


Dream Scape

by Korrasami_infinitely



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alpha Adora (She-Ra), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Blood and Gore, Bottom Catra (She-Ra), Dream Sex, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Gay, Huntara teasing catra (She-Ra), I love pining awkward lesbians, Jealous Catra (She-Ra), Lesbian Adora (She-Ra), Omega Verse, Possessive Alphas, Possessive Behavior, Romantic Fluff, Top Adora (She-Ra), Wet & Messy, he deserved it tho, jealous alpha, them claws sharp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:53:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 35,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24992605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Korrasami_infinitely/pseuds/Korrasami_infinitely
Summary: She encounters her in her dreams. They aren't like the one's she's had previously. These have HER in them. It's always her. Driving Adora to the brink. Until she awakes to a reality that isn't what she hoped.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Catra/She-Ra (She-Ra)
Comments: 143
Kudos: 742





	1. The Beginning, or the End?

**Author's Note:**

> This is not my first fic, but is my first on AO3. There are explicit description of sex and is set in the omegaverse. If you are in any way averse to such themes, then please do not continue. Also I do not own She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.

She was having one of those dreams again.

They've been happening more frequently since her sixteenth birthday.

Living in the Fright Zone didn't come with much perks, but Adora had a place to sleep, food in her belly and her best friend, Catra. They grew up together and eventually became inseparable. Catra was always getting into trouble and keeping things fun, which was what drew Adora to her. They could laugh about the dumbest things and knew each other so deeply.

Adora wasn't sure if Catra was experiencing the same dreams though. They were different than the ones she normally had. They involved a lithe feline. There was something about her recently that caught Adora's attention. She had always assumed it was how talented she was. She's the one who taught Adora so much about having fun and pranking Kyle. But recently something else had seemed to draw her attention. Her curves. The way her pants fit so tightly to her thighs and the way she handles the training simulator stirs an excitement in Adora.

She's not sure what it means. Sometimes she hyper focused on the way Catra moved rather than what she said, and Adora had been asking her to repeat herself more often. She did not understand why she couldn't focus on what she needed to.

This dream was worse than real life, though. This dream involved Catra fighting and moving on the training grounds in much skimpier clothes than what she usually wore, more than anyone usually wore. Her cropped top revealed her strong core and her pants seemed even tighter if that were even possible. But what really took the toll, was how she talked to dream-Adora. Her voice was sultry and teasing gently as she asked Adora if she could do any better. The competitive side of Adora leaped into action and started combating the bots on the field. Catra was close behind as she covered Adora's back. The two worked in tandem as they took down every bot in the simulation.

The two were panting for oxygen when Catra stepped closer to Adora. A crooked smile played on her lips, and Adora was openly staring at her heaving chest. She had never looked at another person like this. She had never been so captivated before.

Her pulse is pounding from the fight and from the excitement she felt at being this close to her best friend. It was like the air was thicker and her gut felt hot. She was nervous and confused all at the same time. Then, Catra came close enough to touch Adora and brush their bodies against each other. The hot heat in Adora's stomach increased tenfold. She felt the pressure of the other body against hers and suddenly woke herself up. She shot up from her mat in a moment of adrenaline. Her brow was sweaty and her body hot. She looks left and right realizing where she is, and it slowly brings her back down to reality.

Without realizing, she had also awakened her closest friend at the end of the bunk.

"Adora," Catra rasped out "what's wrong?"

Startled, Adora jumped in her spot and started to worry that Catra knew what she dreamt about. "N-nothing. Just a dream." Adora said it and could accept that it was in fact a dream. A wild, confusingly weird dream.

"Adora," Catra asked questioningly, "what's that?"

The blonde girl sat up and looked to a sleepy Catra rubbing one eye. She was confused as she follows where her friend's hand is pointing. She looked down at herself gaping as she realizes there's something under her blanket situated very close to her body. She slowly lifted the blanket and saw something extending out from her underwear and coming from her _own_ body. She reached down to touch it and realized how sensitive it was and very clearly realized it was in fact attached to her.

In a moment of sheer panic, she dropped the blanket down over herself clipping the new appendage and yelped from the instant pain.

In a bit of shock Catra leapt back and hissed. "What is it?!" Her voice coming out shrill as she cautiously lingered near Adora.

Adora shushed the cat as she worried her loud friend had woken someone up. Recovering from her bit of pain she accidentally caused herself, she blushed, and her eyes are wide in horror. "I don't know!" She whisper yelled. "But, it's mine… L-like attached to me."

"Woah." Catra gaped at Adora. "Lemme see." She reached towards her.

"What!?" A light pink blush spread across her cheeks. "No, you don't need to see it." She grabbed the blankets and hugged it close to her body to avoid Catra sneaking a peak.

"Why not? Just let me see!" Adora shushed Catra again as the feline reached out to steal the blanket from Adora. The girls fought, tugging the blanket between them. Eventually, Catra saw Adora's strength was not relenting. She smugly released it and because of the firm grip Adora had on it, it flung back into her face revealing exactly what she was trying to hide.

Catra's eyes went wide as she gaped at the new appendage attached to her friend.

If there was one thing the Horde deeply failed at was telling the teens about their bodies. Telling them about new urges and the dreaded hormones and pheromones that would soon run rampant through their bodies. They had hardly even seen themselves naked, let alone anyone else. But, Catra thought she knew Adora inside and out. She had never expected to be surprised like… this.

That's when it clicked for Catra. She had suddenly remembered overhearing a couple of the Force Captains in the locker room. They had talked about an alpha, one that the girls were interested in and had talked about how big the alpha is under the belt. She had always thought they meant his legs or something, but this did make more sense. She didn't know girls could be alpha's too.

Catra's thrusted out of her thoughts as Adora's hands shot to her own eyes and rubbed them vigorously, while releasing a deep groaning. "Why!?"

Catra began looking back down curiously and decided she wanted to touch it. She reached out her hand to absolve her curiosity.

A set of fingers graze up the new appendage thrusting Adora out of her moping session, tearing away her hands from her eyes. The sensation was new and lovely in a way Adora wasn't sure how to feel about. She threw her hands up at Catra's shoulders and pushed her friend back to keep her from continuing.

"Woah, what happened?" Catra's eyes narrowed somewhat from the not so gentle shove.

Adora's arms were still held out in front of her as she breathed heavily from everything that's happening. She's so unsure of basically anything to do with this and…

"I think you're an alpha, Adora." Catra caught on to Adora's panic and decided to attempt to calm her down instead of continuing to watch her spiral.

"An alpha? Like a dog?" Adora looked to her inquisitively.

Catra laughed and rolled her eyes at her much more naïve friend. "No, you idiot. Well… sorta. But an alpha is apparently a person who has that." She pointed directly at the member in question.

"How do you know!?" She nearly shrieked out the question and attempted to cover herself again. A blush creeped up onto her cheeks. "And don't touch it. It's sensitive and feels really…" she struggled to define it "intense." _Yeah, that's it,_ she thought.

"Really?" Catra's next question was uncharacteristically said in a sensual way "How intense?" Catra's eyes narrow somewhat as she waited for her friend's explanation.

That damned blush appears again as Adora attempted to find more words to describe it. "Um… it's kind of like… it's very pleasant, like… very, _very_ , **_very_** pleasant." She found herself looking away from her best friend, concerned she probably weirded her out.

"Oh," was all Catra said. It was an interesting revelation, but an even more confusing one. So, _Catra_ had given Adora this pleasurable sensation. The thought created a swell of pride in her ability to give that to Adora. Pleasure. It's hard to find it anywhere here in the Fright Zone, but she could do that for her best friend. A thought comes to her mind.

Adora's head was still hanging down refusing to look at the other. Her embarrassment about the whole situation and this continuing silence was about to drive her crazy.

"Hey, Adora" Catra gained the other girl's attention after reluctantly doing so. "Can I do it again?"

The member between Adora's legs twitch at the prospect. She stared at Catra slightly flustered and unsure of how to answer the very blunt question. She knew what her body was telling her she wanted, but what did that even mean?

Catra interrupted her thoughts. "You said it was pleasant, right?" Her voice sounded more vulnerable than Adora was used to. Then a hand, that was not Adora's, started sliding up her thigh that was buried in the sheet. Adora's jaw dropped at the soft gesture that clearly revealed the intentions of the other. She reached her arms out to grasp the hand, but not stop its' slow assent. All Adora could think about is the arm attached to her slender friend and how she was making her feel the same as in her dream. She liked being close with Catra, and she liked even more how she was making her feel.

Catra reached the top of Adora's thigh and lightly caressed her soft skin. She looked into Adora's eyes as she waited for permission to continue.

After a few bated breathes, Adora realized she only wanted to feel Catra's hand on her. She didn't understand exactly what was happening, but with the way Catra made her feel, it could only be good. She nodded furiously as the hormones in her blood started pumping through her. She could feel herself becoming more erect between her legs as the simple sensation brought so much heat to her core.

Catra excitedly, but slowly, slid her fingers up and over the tip of it that's hiding behind some of the fabric there. She gasped as Adora reacted immediately from the touch by quickly gripping at the bed and biting her lip. She met the other's eyes, and both become lost in the moment.

A loud alarm bell rang out overhead completely scaring both girls and nearly falling out of the bed.

"Shit," Catra hissed as the adrenaline pumps through her. She made sure Adora was covered up as the other's - sharing bunks in the same bay - started to rouse awake. She looked back at Adora with a new expression. This one was of uncertainty.

Adora laid on her side waiting for Catra to say something. Anything. She had hoped this didn't hurt their friendship. She wasn't sure what any of it meant at all.

"Maybe," Catra started before she wanted to change her mind. Then, she continued "maybe, you should tell Shadow Weaver."

Adora clenched her eyes shut at the prospect of telling someone else about this. Even if the woman was like a mother figure, she never got too personal with her. She had just always turned to Catra. Like that one time she had a bump on her butt. The only person she felt comfortable with was her feline friend. After another moment, Adora emerged from her attempt to escape the situation. "Fine." She sighed. "You're probably right."

"But nobody else." The way Catra said it sounded protective, almost territorial.

Adora had never heard her talk like that before. It sent another pleasant shiver through her body. All she could do was nod in agreement.

* * *

Catra's advice had been the most regrettable she has ever given. As soon as Shadow Weaver found out, Adora was moved to another unit. The barracks were on the other side of the Fright Zone and she hadn't seen Adora after that. She was trying to help her best friend and ended up ruining everything.

The following week her and her peers had to endure an extremely awkward lecture about alphas, betas and omegas. The hormones released, especially from an omega, can trigger an alpha and send them into a feral state where they lose complete control of themselves.

All Catra could do was think about Adora. She was one of those alphas. It made so much sense. _She must have shifted in her sleep_ , thought Catra. She couldn't believe she had done something so intimate with her best friend. The Horde made it seem like something so clinical, but with how Catra felt, there's no way it was that simple.

They explained how alphas are trained in a separate area that is used to keep omegas and betas safe from their feral attacks. She couldn't imagine Adora becoming that. She knew they were probably lying, but she wasn't sure where else to go for information. They continued by explaining that the alphas are trained to resist their urges and not get distracted in battle. Catra thought if that were possible, then they wouldn't go around attacking omega soldiers.

She thought about herself. She hadn't shown any signs of going into heat and she definitely has never had one of those penises before. She just figured she was a beta.

She looked left and right during their lecture and sadly berated herself for letting Shadow Weaver take her Adora away.


	2. Not what I was expecting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Adora-ble baby alpha Adora, learning the ropes.

Everything had happened so fast. One moment she’s in Shadow Weaver’s office _very_ reluctantly telling her about her… situation, the next she’s been shipped out to a new location. She had been so confused. It all happened so fast. It was like everything she knew didn’t matter. Everything she was didn’t matter. The only thing that the Horde wanted from her now was her knew status as an alpha _. Catra was right, though. I am an alpha_ , she thought. Remorse filled her heart. _I… I didn’t even get to say goodbye._ Her eyes sting at the memory of Catra growling and fighting through Horde officers as Shadow Weaver escorted her to a transport bus. Shadow Weaver finally ceased Catra’s movements with her ugly magic and all Adora could see were the tears escaping her best friends’ eyes. She wiped the painful memory away with a quick rub of her arm – taking whatever liquid there with it.

Her bags were heavy especially because they didn’t even allow her enough time to pack properly. Growing up in the Horde she had always known how to roll her clothes and make everything fit into one, maybe two duffel bags. But with the lack of time, she had to carry everything, two duffle bags on each arm and a sack strapped to her back.

She never knew she owned so much stuff, but the Horde sure does issue a lot of gear.

She stumbled forward, worried that she’s about faceplant into the ground, but she caught herself on the post of the bunkbed next to her. A voice shot out.

“Woah there! Be careful. You need help with those?” The kind and exuberant voice was alarming to Adora, but she managed to hold off the boisterous person. 

“N-nope! I got it” She stuck her tongue out in concentration, fumbling a little left and then a little right. The weight seemed to slump her lower and lower as her arms began to shake. She managed to get within range of an area that didn’t seem to be occupied and dumped all her duffle bags onto the floor, just managing to miss her feet in the process. “Phew! I didn’t know I had so much stuff.”

“Oh, yeah! The Horde loads you up on gear, especially when you come to this unit.” The person from earlier shoved herself into Adora’s own conversation with herself. “Welcome! I’m Scorpia.” She reached out a huge claw and Adora hesitantly took it. Before she knows what’s happening, the other person pulled her in quickly for an unexpected hug. “Just so you know, I’m a hugger,” she said to Adora with a soft smile.

Adora’s face was tight with awkward tension and was completely lost on what to do. She coughed lightly and Scorpia finally released the younger girl. “Heh heh, uh, hi! I’m Adora. I guess we’re new bunk mates.” She’s caught off guard when the other person came within inches of Adora’s body. 

“Hmmm… there’s something about your hug I just don’t like,” Scorpia said. She thought contemplatively as she looked sternly at Adora’s face. She’s only a few inches away and Adora responded with wide eyes revealing her discomfort. “Yano, I just don’t know what it is!”

“Uh,” Adora awkwardly stepped backwards away from the larger woman and moved to unpack her bags. “So, you’re an alpha too?” She attempted to change the subject.

“Oh yeah! We all are on this side of the Fright Zone. They have specialized training for us to hone in on our alpha senses, so we can use them in battle!” She raised a claw in pure determination. “You might want to get changed into your new gear; we have training in about 30 minutes.” Scorpia said this as she shrugged on a tactical vest.

Adora acknowledged the piece of information and started rummaging through her bags to find the new gear.

“Wow, look at you. You’re bigger than you seem.”

Adora preened at the complement and tightened her biceps as she lifted her own vest. “Yeah, I like to stay pretty fit.” She turned her attention to Scorpia. “You’re pretty big too.”

“Aw shucks, thanks. I have to eat twice as many ration bars just to keep up with it.” She flexed her bicep and Adora’s eyes sparkled behind her.

“Woah.” She reached out to poke the muscle, but Scorpia removed her arm continuing to pile on gear. “They give you more ration bars?”

“Well, yeah! We’re the alphas. The main fighting force of the Horde. They have to keep us strong and ready.” Her smile was genuine as she described their role.

They both startled as they heard a buzz come through over the intercom, “Attention cadets! Everyone head down to the drill pad for assignment.”

“Well, it’s now or never I guess.” Adora shrugged on the rest of her gear. She took a moment to realize how everything was moving so quickly. She hadn’t even had time to let herself digest what’s happened. She swallowed the pain and loss rising in her chest and decided to take it out on the training field. 

* * *

Adora had always been the best cadet in her old unit, but as she strode down to the drill pad with Scorpia, she realized she had just been bumped-up to the big leagues. She looked around the cement pad gazing at all the other soldiers. There were all different kinds down here, but one thing they all mostly had in common was their size. They were all _huge_. Adora finally reached the bottom of the steps and truly realized how small she was in comparison. She made her way over to the large formation and stood between Scorpia and a much larger version of Rojelio. Some of the soldiers there were shoving each other. Adora couldn’t place it, but she knew she was surrounded by alphas. Their scents were strong and pungent in her nose. It’s like they all were competing. At least that’s how it was for most of the soldiers around her. Some were calm and reserved, like Scorpia. _That must be what it’s like after some training._ All the other cadets stood at attention and she decided to follow along and do the same.

A new voice boomed out over the drill pad. “Good evening, cadets!”

“Good evening, Force Admiral!” All the others quickly responded in return.

Adora was _not_ expecting that. She hadn’t been in the presence of a Force Admiral before, but she could tell he was also an alpha. His presence caused a shift in the alphas that were acting out two minutes ago. 

He continued speaking to the soldiers, going on about the recent activities of the Rebellion and where they stood against them. Adora did her best to listen, but she felt so overwhelmed by all the new things happening to her. She tried to focus and pushed those feelings down again once more. 

“Alright cadets! Break out into your training groups. All new cadets on me!” He waved his great big hand towards his chest.

Adora – lost in everything that’s going on around her as the other soldiers dispersed – was bumped in the shoulder by Scorpia. “Hey, he's talking about you. Just get down there and he’ll tell ya where to go.” She gave Adora this reassuring smile that the blonde was desperately grateful for. 

She gathered herself and made her way over to the Force Admiral. He’s already talking to a few of the cadets there when she lined up in the back of the much smaller formation. 

“Looks like we have a new alpha in the crowd. Come on up, newbie.” He gestured to Adora.

The blonde’s eyes widened – completely thrown off by the attention – and made her way to the front of the formation standing next to him.

“Everyone, meet our newest alpha. What’s your name soldier?” He looked down at her.

“Adora, sir!”

“Welcome, Adora. This,” he gestured to a tall woman just behind him “is Huntara. She’ll be your Force Captain. Follow her lead and you won’t go astray.” He looked back towards the rest of the group as Adora ogled the woman behind him. 

_ She’s big.  _ Adora’s eyes twinkled with something of a bit of admiration. The woman looked down at her and chuckled at the attention. Adora completely missed the rest of the Force Admiral’s speech and he walked away. The blonde was still standing awkwardly in front of the formation staring at Huntara.

The taller woman cleared her throat. “Back into formation, soldier.” Her voice sounded irritated.

Adora realized she’s been standing in the same spot for too long and awkwardly laughed as she retreated behind the formation. She sighed as soon as she got there releasing all of.., whatever that was.

“Alright, group,” Huntara said. “Some of you are brand new and for others, you’ve only been here a few days. We start the day off with training your physical body and end the day finetuning your alpha senses and abilities.” She paced slowly in front of the formation. “This morning we’ll be climbing the rough face of this simulated mountainous terrain.” She pointed off into the distance at a nearly 100-foot-tall rock wall just beyond the drill pad. 

The group groaned, but Adora perked up at the physical challenge. 

“Quit your whining, you bunch of babies! Some of the roughest terrain to reach a few of the most coveted Rebellion territory is beyond a wall just like this one. So, buck up and get moving!” She waved her arms to signal their movement towards the towering wall.

Adora was the first to take off running towards it while the rest of the alphas looked at her with confusion. 

Huntara looked to her approvingly. “C’mon, you weak little rattlesnake turds! She’s beating you!”

Each of the other soldiers realized how bad Adora made them look, and they took off after her. Each one sunk deeper into their alpha state. The competitive sides were instinctively coming out.

Adora reached the tower and bent over her knees, huffing for air. “Made it!” she said in between pants. She expected to hear a certain voice chuckling and complaining behind her, but all she heard was the huffing from the other alphas. The amount of disappointment was evident on her face.

“Well done!” A big hand came down smacking Adora’s back. It nearly knocked the wind out of her. She steadied herself before she almost fell from the impact. “Alright cadets! Get over to the brig and get yourselves sized up with climbing gear.”

Adora walked over to the other side, not minding how the others moaned and groaned behind her. She’s climbed before in the simulator… but never this high. She strengthened her resolve and took the rope around her waist and thighs. She neared the tower, linked herself up and started her assent. At first the climb was a relief. She’s able to focus on something other than… Catra, and she put all of her bodily effort into it. Once she got about halfway up her muscles started to scream at her. They started to seize up as she started to lose grip. She used an anchor and let her body lean back, giving her tired arms a break. She looked down and saw that there were a few alphas on her tail. The fact stirred something inside of her, then she heard it. 

_ Beat them. _

It startled Adora at first. She looked left and right – then realized how dumb that was – and looked down to see where it came from. She felt a stirring inside of her. 

_ I said BEAT THEM. _

The fire ignited in her core and she felt a newfound strength. She huffed as she grabbed ahold of the wall once more, releasing her anchor. She climbed again, this time with much less discomfort and fatigue. 

She reached a height that the wind began to whirl around her much more than it did below. She gritted her teeth and pushed through, nearly slipping with her left foot. She found grip again and reached for the next hold. They seemed like they’re getting further and further apart, though. She looked down and saw that some of her competition was way behind her, but a select few were only a few meters below.

She felt the stirring again. This time it’s much stronger and the voice was much louder. 

_ Grr, let me! _

Suddenly a flash of light blinded Adora and she felt an intense desire in her core. It almost felt like she’s losing herself. Her right-hand slips for a moment and her other one gripped tighter than she thought possible. She grunted and brought her hands back up to the top. Now, the footholds don’t seem so far apart. She could reach them with ease and her stamina had kicked into high gear. 

She reached the top and shouts “Yeesss!” with a loud chuckle and a yell in success.

She’s suddenly less focused on her climbing and more aware of herself as she’s reached the end of the competition. She looked down at her hands that seem much bigger… and her body that didn’t seem to match the one she knew. Her eyes widened and she started to panic. She accidentally released her grip out of shock and started to fall. 

The wind whipped around her and her scream cut through the immediate area alerting more people than she would like. Another flash and her body was back to normal.

Huntara jumped into action grabbing ahold of her line and gripping her strong arms around it. The rope slid around her forearm and burned like a vicious plant she’s encountered from studying the Crimson Waste. She grit her teeth as she tried her hardest to stop the young alpha’s deadly fall.

* * *

Adora opened her eyes as she looked up seeing the underside of the top bunk. She put her hand to her head feeling a shooting throb to her temple and tried to sit up slowly. “Catra, I had the weirdest dream.” Her voice sounded groggy.

“You’re awake!”

The voice was one that didn’t match her best friend.

Scorpia leaned over Adora’s bed with concerned eyes. “Hey, I’m glad you’re awake. You gave us all quite the scare.”

Adora opened her eyes more aware than she was a moment ago. “Scorpia?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” She smiled softly. “Who’s Catra?” Her eyes shined like she’ll make a new friend. “Now that sounds like the name of a person I want to know.” She laughed lightly, hoping to lighten the mood.

Adora chuckled sadly, “yeah, she’s pretty great.” The blonde took a deep breath. “How did I get here?” She rubbed the side of her head hoping it helped some.

“Oh! Yeah, you scared the daylights out of everyone. Even Force Captain Huntara was a little shaken up.” Scorpia’s tail drooped and her face showed concern. “You fell Adora. Huntara tried her best to catch you – and she did stop your fall for the most part, but you still hit the ground pretty hard.” She winced as she remembered looking over to see it all happen in real time.

“Woah. Not a great first day I guess, huh?” She smiled softly feeling a little downtrodden.

“Hey, hey! It’s okay. You’ll totally do better next time. I mean, it can only go up from here, right? I mean… well yano, maybe not the best choice of words. Um, it can only get better.” Scopria blushed at her stumble with her words and reached out a claw to Adora. “What happened up there? Nobody tried messing with you, did they?” Her voice sounded a little more than just concerned. Adora didn’t notice it much though.

Adora rubbed her head once more – hoping it might help clear up her thoughts. “No, I made it to the top before anybody else. But something happened on my way up. It was like,” she looked down at her own hands that were smaller and back down to size. “It was like I was a different person. I heard this voice telling me to beat the other alphas to the top. I’m not sure where it came from though.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Is that it? Ha ha! Well that’s your inner alpha, silly. Oh,” she leaned back in realization covering her mouth with the tips of her claws. “You haven’t felt it any other time before? Like when you saw someone you liked, or got into a fight with someone?” Adora just looked at her with quirked brows and a questioning look. “Well, look. For alphas, we have this instinct inside of us. If we let it consume us, we often lose control and it’ll take over. But that’s what our training is for, so we can learn to control our urges and focus on the tasks at hand. Alphas tend to lose control the most around omegas. Their scent is intoxicating and can make even the strongest alpha lose control of themselves.” Scorpia leaned back as she filled in Adora on being an alpha. “The Horde is trying to teach us to control these urges so that we don’t get distracted by some Rebel fighter trying to trigger our inner alpha. Didn’t you go to the Alpha Soldier orientation? They explained all of this there.”

Adora groaned at the new information. Something still didn’t seem right. She didn’t mention anything about her whole body changing. She rubbed her face with her palm. “No, I haven’t been to the orientation. How come nobody told me?” She sighed, working up the nerve to ask Scorpia another question. “Uhm, what about,” she fidgeted “changes to my body?” She was wondering if that’s why all the other alphas were so much bigger than her. Maybe her body needed to transform again… like it did on the climbing wall.

“Oh!” Scorpia started sporting a deep red blush. She wasn’t sure she should be the one to have this conversation with Adora. “Well you see… when a person starts becoming attracted to another person, especially omegas, uhm. You’re body changes, uhm yano especially for female alphas, uh.” She chuckled awkwardly running a hand through her white hair. “Wow, this is harder than I thought… You get this shifting in between…” she’s cut off after she had gesticulated down to the join of her legs.

“No, no, no! Not that kind of changes.” Adora’s now sporting a deep crimson blush on her pale cheeks. “Like changes to the size of my body. I think something happened while I was on top of the wall. It’s like something inside of me took over and every step that I climbed was faster and easier.” She looked down at her hands in her lap.

“Oh,” this sounded more of confusion than relief. “Well, I don’t know of any alphas that change like that. My size is more so due to growth and working out. No doubt my inner alpha had something to do with it as well.” She scratched her head, “but I don’t think it’s an instant thing.”

They both shared a silence between them. Scorpia reached to put an arm around Adora. “Hey, everything is gonna work out just fine. You’ll see. I’ll let Huntara know you’re awake and feeling better. Then, we could head out and get some chow. You’ll need your strength before the next level of training.” She smiled a sweet grin at Adora and it brought comfort to both of them as they each relaxed a little bit more.

“Yeah, you’re right. Food sounds amazing right about now, actually!” Her grin spread wider at the thought of food. It’s always been her favorite.

“Great! I’ll be right back. Let me go update leadership and I’ll be right behind you.” Scorpia takes off from their shared bunk room leaving Adora with her own thoughts.

She wasn’t sure what to make of what happened on the wall, but it was new and apparently not a common occurrence. Adora sighed, releasing much of her tension along with it. She’ll have to figure it all out later. It’s time for food and she gets double the rations now!


	3. The hard part

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alpha Adora has to learn sometime!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> getting very explicit in this chapter. You are warned! (retreats from room pointing two fingers from the same hand from my eyes back to you) "WaterTribe"

After an amazing – and much needed – lunch, she returned to the drill pad to await her next set of training. The other alphas stared at her out of the corners of their eyes. _They probably think I’m weak after falling earlier. Ugh I made such a fool of myself._ She looked everywhere else other than at her fellow soldiers. Then, Huntara showed up.

“Alright, Cadets! The second half of today’s training will be focusing on your alpha senses and urges. This will be an introduction to the kind of training you’ll be subjected to for the next few weeks.” She looked over at Adora as she said, “some of you may not be able to handle it.”

She led the group of soldiers over to a simulation module.

Now, this was something Adora recognized. She stepped closer to the large door alongside the other alphas and awaited instruction.

“Inside, you’ll each be tested. There will be something that will trigger your alpha and you must learn to control it. All of you will fail. The success of your teammates is the success of this unit and there is no one person who carries all the weight.” Her words touched Adora. She had always been the best at simulations. She’s worked her butt of to make it that way, but she’s always had help too. She missed her team. “Let’s go! First rank up. One person at a time.”

 _This is new,_ Adora thought. She hadn’t ever done a simulation alone. Fighting was always better when fighting with numbers, at least that’s what the Horde had always taught her.

The first soldier walked in with their gear. They look ready and rearing to go. The door closed behind them, and we all watched on the monitors. They stepped around slowly as the scene unfolded before them for the simulation. Expecting a good fight, I watched with anticipation. My competitive side was coming out stronger than it normally did. I watched in anticipation, itching for my turn to go.

The soldier inside caught sight of something moving and crouched behind a simulated boulder. They looked around it and latched their eyes on a “princess.” They shot up from behind and ran at the simulated bot, pointing and shooting the laser blaster. The bot dodged it and flung around the other side of the tree it was hanging on. It landed on the ground and rolled towards the soldier. It dodged the obstacles in front of it heading straight for the soldier. They leapt out of the way and blasted their weapon one more time. This time making contact.

Some of us on the outside cheered for them, but the battle wasn’t over yet.

I looked over to Force Captain Huntara and saw her smug grin on her face. _There’s something different about this fight._ She looked back to the screen to see another bot bolting for the soldier. But there’s something different this time. The bot got close to the soldier and a spray was emitted from the body of the bot. Then, all of a sudden – after a long intake of air – the soldier’s whole demeanor shifted. They became a completely different person as they began to chase the bot around the arena.

“That!” Huntara shocked the piss out of some of them, “is the scent of an omega. It can render an alpha _useless_ on the battlefield. They’ll lose their focus and chase tail until someone takes them out.” She pressed a button and it halted the simulation. A team of large soldiers entered the arena grabbing hold of the crazed alpha triggered by the omega’s scent.

Adora was shocked and appalled. She couldn’t believe that’s what she’d become. Something new dawned over her. A realization of what she could’ve become without receiving the proper training. She would’ve become a monster. And who would she have hurt first?... _Catra_ , Adora thought. A new fire raised in her chest. She didn’t want to become that. She didn’t want to hurt _anyone._ She needed to get control of her urges.

She also realized the shift in the alpha’s physical body as they drug them out right in front of her. They had the same protrusion between their legs, but nothing else. Their body wasn’t bigger or any different than it was before. Something inside told her not to worry about her own body shifting the way it did before, but she couldn’t keep the fear from bubbling up.

“Okay, who’s up next!?” Huntara said it like she was rearing to get these alpha’s in to get their first experience. Adora clenched her jaw, but someone raised their hand up first, allowing her time to see it one more time.

She realized that it’s almost an involuntary response. There’s something else about it. Something different. She could only remember the thought of one person giving her a response like that. The same feline that continued to haunt her dreams. She took a deep breath and raised her hand to go next.

She entered the arena, not used to being all by herself. She’d have to be vigilant. Her gear kicked on and a high-pitched tone filled her ears. The glasses sensed the simulation and she realized it’s time to get to work. She saw her first bot, and instead of giving it a chance to spray her, she ducked past it’s rolling body and shot it from behind. She released a breath and thought to herself _that was too easy._

She stayed hidden in an area that had a good vantage point. She spotted her next two bots coming out from the tree branches. The simulated princesses jumped haphazardly towards her and she shot the first one on the left. The other got around to her backside, then she heard the mechanism for it to release it’s “scent.” She dove away and covered her face. “Ugh!” she said as she hits the hard surface of the simulator. She rolled to her back and shot a round from the laser blaster attached to her wrist. Then, recovered quickly hoping to dodge the scent from entering her sinuses.

She got some space between her and the last bot, when another one popped out of nowhere. It caught Adora off guard which didn’t happen often. She’s pushed back and lasers are blasted at her head. She lifted her arm shield and braced for the impact. It came and pushed her body back at least a meter.

Another bot joined the fight as Adora sent lasers at the first bot. This other bot was able to get Adora while she’s down, and the spray was released.

Adora smelled it involuntarily and it did indeed catch her attention. She liked how good it smells, so much so that it made her mouth water. Her mind was reeling from how strong the urge to go after that scent was. She couldn’t even describe what it was doing to her. She _wanted_ it.

She wanted it like she wanted Catra in her dreams… The thought of the lithe feline pulled her from the intense moment of sensations. It’s like a pain in her head, and her heart, that she couldn’t explain. Like she was betraying Catra somehow. She roared in pain and launched her body backwards, giving herself space to shoot the blasted bot.

She’s panting on the ground as the door opened to reveal Force Captain Huntara and the others.

“Well done, cadet! Very few young alphas have the ability to control themselves while in the midst of an omega in heat.” She once again smacked the back of Adora, sending her to her knee this time. The simulation had really taken it out of her.

Adora chuckled a little, very pleased that the simulation was over – and very confused about _why_ she kept thinking of Catra?!

The rest of the training went much the same way. The alphas were tested on their ability to ignore their desires to fight each other as well as chase after omegas. It was exhausting to say the least.

Adora dropped into her bunk and slowly breathed out, releasing what she could from today’s events.

“Adora!” Scorpia charged into the room like she always did. “So glad to see you! How are you feeling? Better I hope” Her smile was infectious and eased some of Adora’s tension.

“Yeah, a lot better actually. My second training session went better than the first.” She sat up in her bed leaning against the head rail and tucked her arm behind her head.

“I heard! You were able to ignore the omega scent on the first try! Not too many people can say they’ve done that.” She chuckles. “Even me! I think it took me at least a dozen or two tries before I could even start to get a handle on it.” She blushed lightly, divulging the information for some reason brought up a hint of embarrassment.

“Yeah, I’m not even sure how I did it.” She looked down with her hand on her chin. A light blush streaked across her face as well. She remembered thinking of Catra, and the way her scent always made her feel at home. But this scent from the bot was different. It was stronger. Pungent, but not like how fowl the alphas’ scents were. It was sweeter and more desirable.

“No worries, I wouldn’t harp on it for too long. It’ll just fluster you for next time.” Scopria stood up stretching her arms and pinching her pincers. “Well, I better hit the showers. I stink! You wanna come?”

Adora shuffled in her seat a little. “Yeah. I’ll be there in a minute. Just gonna take a few more moments to rest for a second.”

“Yeah, totally! I get it. First day is always a killer. See ya in there.” Scorpia walked away after grabbing her shower gear.

Adora breathed deeply and let it out harshly. She tried to relax and succeeded as she drifted off to sleep.

It was the same damn dream…

Catra was there in her tight legging pants walking closer to Adora. Her smirk was knowing and her eyes screamed attitude. She reached Adora and wrapped her arms around her. Suddenly, Adora’s senses were overloaded as she smelled that same sweet scent from earlier today. But this time it was coming from… Catra. She took a slow long drag of the scent. Making sure it filled her up. Something about it started to drive Adora to the edge. In this dream, she felt the shift between her legs happen. It was uncomfortable, but it felt right. She felt her inner alpha connect with her and they synced. All she wanted was to take Catra right where she stood. She wanted to reach out and grab her. Take control and do what she pleased with the strong feline.

“Mmm, Adora. Take me, please.” Catra had never spoken like that to her before. She wasn’t sure what to think. Had things really changed this much?

The way she said it makes Adora’s mind fuzzy with desire.

Catra turned around and teased Adora with her backside. She made sure to wiggle her hips. Her tail flicked side to side revealing her excitement that pooled between her legs. The smell was driving Adora mad.

“Adora!” Catra sounds so needy…

“Adora!

Adora sits up so fast in her bed that she nearly hits her head on bunk above her.

“Woah! Adora, some crazy dream, huh?” Scorpia asks blushing looking towards the ceiling.

“Wha-“Adora looked down at herself protruding between her legs, tightly confined behind her pants. “Oh!” She hid herself with the blanket, completely covering her face.

Scorpia laughed out loud. “No! It’s okay, really. It happens to the best of us. Why don’t I hurry and get changed and give you some time to yourself?”

“Uh, time for myself for what?” Adora barely peeked her head out.

“Wha - I’m telling you, you really need to go to Alpha Soldier orientation!”

Adora groaned. “They have some tomorrow, I’m going to the first one, bright and early.” She spilled it out so fast as her cheeks grew hot.

“Well, for now I guess I’ll let you in on how to help with… that” Adora lifted out her head one more time to see Scorpia – sporting a bright red streak on her cheeks – pointing to her problem.

“Yes! _Please help!_ ” Adora nearly fell out of bed reaching for the woman.

“Woah there! Some personal space is necessary for this conversation.” Adora slowly sat back into position and had a crooked smile on her face. Scorpia continued, “okay well… you touch it. When you’re alone! Preferably. Or with another person. Yano, it’s all about your preferences.” She coughs as she stumbles quickly through her explanation. “And you sort of just let your mind wander. You don’t have to think of anything in particular, but you’ll start thinking of stuff once you get going. So! I’ll uh… give you some _you_ time. I’m going to leave and keep myself busy.” She quickly jumped up from her seat and made her way to the door. “Have fun!” She chuckled while walking away.

This was all so crazy and weird. She decided to relax after Scopria left. It was more comfortable to deal with all of this in privacy. She took a deep breath and tried to think back to her dream from a moment ago. Adora loved that dream, she could still smell the faint scent of Catra. _But was that really her scent? I don’t think I’ve ever smelled Catra like_ that _before._

She started to remember the way she was standing there with her back to her. Like she was beckoning her forward. Adora thought about the way her hips swayed…

But then, a realization hit her. Her mind had made all of that up. She had never seen Catra do those things. _Did she_ want _to do those things?_ It was all so confusing.

Instead, Adora set her mind on something else. All Adora could think about was their last interaction in her room. It wasn’t like her dream. Catra was as curious as Adora was and not very experienced at all. But the way she trailed her fingers up and down felt like agonizing bliss. Adora kept thinking of how Catra touched her and the way her eyes looked as she did so. She had so much power over Adora in that moment.

Adora started sliding her hand up and down her appendage, just like Catra was in her mind. It started to seem so real. She inhaled deeply at how good it felt. She’d never touched herself like this before. This was like a drug. All she wanted was Catra’s hand sliding up and down. She could only imagine it, but her own motions became in tandem with her thoughts, and for a brief moment it really _did_ feel like Catra was doing it.

Her breath hitched in the back of her throat. Her other hand was gripping harder on the head rail behind her. She didn’t think of the noises she was making. All she saw were those two mismatched eyes taking deep pleasure in what she was doing to Adora.

Adora’s face scrunched up as she was falling further and further into the hot sensation in her core. She was nearing something, but she wasn’t sure what. Adora’s hand started speeding up, just as fast as Catra’s did in her mind. The blonde huffed out each time she panted as she was closely reaching her limit on how great this felt. Suddenly, her thoughts shifted and Catra was trying something else. Adora couldn’t take her eyes off of the person in front of her. Her curves were call Adora to grab them. Catra started to lower her face towards the exact point of all of Adora’s pleasure. Catra parted lips just as she had reached the tip of her – “Agggghhh!” Her eyes were shut so tight and she felt all the pressure that had been building finally release. She had sprayed hot liquid down her hand decreasing the friction of her dry hand and allowing herself the ability to go much faster this time.

She wasn’t expecting to continue, but Catra stumbled back into her mind once more and started to lick the tip. Adora’s hand was moving so fast this time she hardly had a few seconds to recover from the last shockwave. She inhaled sharply and another set of fireworks burst behind her eyes. She squirted more liquid on her hand and felt some spill onto her shirt this time. Her mouth opened as she silently screamed for Catra. A guttural groan escaped her mouth after her release is finished. She fell over on her side and panted for air. She held her throbbing member in her hands gripping at it hoping she can maintain some of Catra with her for just a few moments longer.

She wasn’t sure why it’s always Catra, but some small part of her thought she knew. It’s always been her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay two chapters in one night! I thought about keeping it one long chapter, but I liked splitting it up more. They’re so amaze-balls.  
> And don’t worry. There won’t always be lonely nights for Adora and I didn’t forget to write about Catra. She’ll get some screen time 😉


	4. Feelings Suck

Catra makes her way back to their sleeping quarters after their awkward teachings about alphas and omegas. She can’t help but sink her claws into the metal railing as she walks, dragging her claws through the malleable iron. She suddenly retracts them. _The last time Shadow Weaver found my marks all over the halls she kept me in her magical vice grip for ages,_ she thinks. A slight panic begins to rise in her chest. She grunts, frustrated at how brainwashed she is from the old hag, and takes off on all fours.

She finally makes it back to the barracks. The tip of Catra’s tail whips left and right unconsciously as she stares down at her feet. She shakes her head to try and keep that awful excuse of a woman out of her mind as she goes to her bunk… _their_ bunk.

She looks down at the metal frame and thin mat and remembers what had happened just the other day. Shadow Weaver took Adora away. She doesn’t understand why she reacted the way she did when the witch escorted Adora to the transport bus. It was like something came over her and took over her body. A need to save Adora and keep her close.

 _Ugh! I don’t get it,_ she thinks. Her eyes shift back and forth as she contemplates, visualizing ripping through the armor of each of the soldiers that tried to stop her. It was like she would scratch them all to pieces just to keep her safe. She can feel this… _need_ building back up inside of her.

She lays in the bed that she used to share with her best friend. Adora’s gone. _Her_ Adora. This sense of possessiveness comes over her as her brow tenses. Then, another wave of confusion. She brushes it off simply that they grew up together and of course she would be upset about Shadow Weaver taking her best friend away. She doesn’t have too many of those after all.

She grunts to herself then sighs, flopping her back onto the bunk. _I hate feelings_. _I hate thinking about how Adora makes me feel. It’s so confusing and nerve wracking_. Anger rises in her chest and this new inexplainable feeling was driving her mad. _There isn’t anything I can do… is there?_

She huffs and turns her head to the side, noticing the rudimentary drawings they sketched into the metal frame of their shared bunk. She looks at it longingly. She’s never felt so distant from her before. So separated. It’s like she’s missing one of the most important parts of her life. She starts to miss how they shared this bunk. Catra would curl at the bottom, and even though they didn’t touch she still felt connected and close to her.

But, now… she’ll be sleeping by herself. Would she ever see Adora again? She struggles to let herself feel it. The realization of her loss hurts so much. She hates how much it’s affecting her, but can anyone blame her?

She could let herself cry… this time. She could be angry about it later.

Small hot tears stream down her cheeks. She tries to keep them at bay, but it’s useless. They freely flow now onto Adora’s old pillow, but she makes sure to wipe her snot on her arm. She can still smell Adora on her old pillow. She would’ve thought she’d taken it with her, but was surprised to see it still here. She inhales what she can and fills her sinuses with Adora’s scent. It smells amazing and comforting and strong. The scent soothes her just enough to help her drift off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning Kyle is positioned in the corner of the locker room biting his lip as he cautiously eyes Catra. He starts to walk over to her and contemplates a comforting hand before he realizes the gesture is way more intimate than they have ever interacted before. “Hey” he voices softly as he sits next to her on the bench.

“What do you want, _Kyle?”_ Catra’s voice is low, but still carries her usual bite towards the end.

“How you holding up?” He says it with trepidation.

Her eyes are on her feet as she thinks about the question. “Fine.” She scoffs and stands to her feet. She immediately shakes off her outward emotional slip and pulls up her walls once more. “Let get this over with already, shall we? Before I die from Kyle’s feelings.” Catra walks off not having fooled anyone, even herself.

The rest of them roll their eyes and follow her lead out the door and head to the training arena.

Catra is completely zoning out from whatever the instructor is saying. They’ve been doing this for ages, she’s probably memorized most of their simulation scenarios. _The princesses have invaded another town and are holding a group of Horde soldiers hostage; or, princesses have a stronghold facility close by, infiltrate and destroy. Make sure you take them all out_ , she thinks in her head, even using the same dumb voice of their instructor.

She looks around as if to meet a knowing grin, but she doesn’t find it. The familiarity of the situation causes a pain to burn through her. There’s something off about it all. Like some piece is missing. She eyes the corner of the room as the instructor continues to drone on. She can only think about one thing. One person. One alpha.

A pang of painful wanting enters her chest. She has shared her whole life with Adora, and to even go through the same dull day-to-day tasks without her is like driving a stake through her chest. She clenches her fists as the dull ache spreads through her body. She grits her teeth as she tries not to succumb to this rising fury and grief. She can’t let those feelings escape like she did last night. No one will see her pain.

She hears the final few words triggering the start of their mission in the simulator, and her body, set on autopilot, walks inside of the simulation. Her jaw clenches again and she feels a desperate need for an outlet. Her anger is rising at the feelings filling her chest. Loss. Grief. Longing. Need. The absence of her best friend is clear and in the forefront of her mind. She feels like it’s about to consume her. That’s when she tries to focus. She tries to think of one singular thing that brings it all together. Something, or someone, to take out all this crap just building and tearing her apart.

She sees red.

Not just red, but black flowing shadows and a mask that could give any rebellion princess nightmares. She focuses on the one thing that’s given her life so much hell. The one being that she can blame for all of this. She sees Shadow Weaver and light a hot rage takes over like instinct.

The simulator flickers as it kicks on and each member is on high alert.

“Okay guys,” Lonnie starts. “Let’s stay together and keep moving.” She, Rogelio and Kyle have their backs to one another as they scope out their surroundings, but Catra is rogue. She can’t focus on tactic, or drills. She needs to sink her claws into something.

A bot appears out of nowhere brandishing a hologram of a princess. It falls and leaps towards the group. They all prepare for impact when Catra leaps in front of it out nowhere. She slashes her powerful claws through the machine as if she had a personal vendetta against it. It flickers and sputters out, motionless.

Catra is panting from the rush and release she felt from tearing into that machine. Her senses kick in and she hears movement from the rear. She turns and runs narrowly dodging lasers that will knock her out of the sim. She launches herself behind a boulder and waits just a fraction as the bot shoots it away. She rises and pounces almost in one fluid motion. Her claws already on full display are reared back only to thrash through the metal once more. It makes a creaking noise as goes lifeless.

All Catra can see is red. She sees Shadow Weaver’s stupid face and wants to rip it off. The next bot dodges her attack, and she sees Shadow Weaver retreating behind a tree. She follows it as if in a feral state. It was like she was blinded by her own need for Adora. She _hated_ this woman. “How _dare_ you take her from me.” She grabs ahold of the bot and slashes her claws again and again. She continues slicing through the hollow bot causing the metal to slice her open palms. The simulation is terminated, but it’s as though she can’t be retrieved from her state of rage, her need to get Adora back.

Suddenly, brave, strong arms wrap around the exhausted cat. She’s heaving for air as she’s pulled from her false reality. Rogelio is the one who braves the razor sharp claws and lifts her off of the decimated machine. She can hardly breathe. She can’t help the angry tears that fall.

* * *

They bring her back to the locker room so she can cool down. Rogelio places her on the cool floor and she just crumples down onto it. Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio sit there with her as she catches her breath. They don’t say a word. Kyle tries to reach out and comfort her, but Rogelio quickly puts a hand on his arm, halting him from any further movements.

Catra’s breaths are less frantic now and is finding a slower rhythm. She sits up and leans against the wall of lockers. She cautiously looks over to the three in the room. None of them are staring at her. They’re just here. Trying not to make a big deal of it. She wants to run and never look back, but she is exhausted and they already saw how weak she was.

Lonnie stands up. “I’m going to breakfast.” She turns to leave the locker room and the other two start to follow. “Catra you want us to grab you anything?” She doesn’t look at her. She doesn’t make notice of anything amiss. She just extends an olive branch. Something Catra could either grab onto or shove away.

Catra wipes the salty tears and snot from her face and does her best to regain control of the situation. She chuckles, “why, so you can spit in it or something?” Her eyes shifting left and right hoping that the fragility of the situation isn’t because of her vulnerability.

Lonnie turns her head to look at Catra slowly rising from the floor. “I didn’t hear any complaints the last time I got you the breakfast special.” She pretends to spit right into her palm.

Catra gags in vague horror. “Yeah, screw that. I’ll just get it myself.” She walks towards them and leaves the room in front of everyone else. She would never say it out loud, but is grateful for Lonnie’s understanding.

* * *

They were exiting the chow hall when Shadow Weaver appeared in front of them. They all gasp from the surprise and Catra’s fists clench so tightly she almost draws blood.

“Cadets,” the old hag greets them, “there’s been a mission planned for a raid in Theimore. I would like to offer you all the opportunity to prove yourselves to me, and Lord Hordak.” Her presence looms over them as if to intimidate them. “Try not to embarrass me or yourselves. If you screw up, I’ll know, and you’ll be lucky to have latrine duty for a month.”

The cadets celebrate shortly with a few grunts of excitement. All except Catra. She continues to glare at the older woman and starts to turn to walk away with the others.

“Catra,” Shadow Weaver’s voice halts her as if she’s using her magic instead. She turns and faces the older woman. “I heard there was a… _disturbance_ today in the simulation trainer.” She floats closer to the girl. “You know, maybe I should pull you from this mission. You may not be as… prepared, or levelheaded enough.”

The cat girl clenches her jaw and prepares to refute the old witch.

Shadow Weaver lifts her hand to halt her and continues, “then again, maybe you could be quite useful. It was quite the display. Besides, there will be a team of alphas joining the convoy tomorrow. Perhaps they can keep you in line long enough not to screw up the mission.”

Catra’s whole body feels like it lost all its’ blood as the words hit her ears. Her eyes show a moment of shock and it was enough for the old hag to notice.

Shadow Weaver hums lightly as she takes note of the change in demeanor and thinks of how she could use this situation to her advantage. “Run along, Catra.” She says it in such a condescending tone that she’s surprised it wasn’t enough to elicit a response form the younger girl.

As Shadow Weaver slinks off into the darkness of the halls, Catra remains in place. She feels like her brain is going a mile a minute. _Does this mean… I could see Adora?_ Her breath catches and she tries to get a grip on herself. _She’s only been gone for like a day_.

She turns and slinks off after her friends. She wonders for a moment if she could skip this afternoons training, but she doesn’t want to risk losing her spot for the mission. There is a chance she could see Adora. It’s a small one, but still. _Adora is a fast learner, they might take her out for her first mission._ Images of a strong, fierce, blonde girl taking out bots in the simulator drift through her mind. The need to see her best friend is still there in the pit of her stomach. Thankfully, it dulled since her outburst in training, but she can’t even begin to understand where all of this is coming from.

She walks in the back of the group as they make their way back to training. She thinks about how crazy she’s felt lately. There’s so much she doesn’t fully understand about herself yet. She hasn’t been told if she’s a beta or omega. She is pretty sure she isn’t an alpha, but then where are all of these raging emotions coming from? She’s learned that omegas and alphas can be pretty touchy, especially if the people they care about are in trouble. _Adora isn’t in trouble_ , she doesn’t think, but then why can’t she shake this feeling _? Why can’t I just let it go? Why is she all I keep thinking about?_

A thought comes to her mind from the training they just had, _omegas have heats that drive them crazy, but I don’t think I’ve had one of those._ Her eyes dart left and right as she tries to figure it out. _UGH!_ She groans internally, because she is so tired of having to think about all of this so much. Maybe she just needs to punch something again, that definitely helped before. She continues down the hall after the other three and thinks about how she might see Adora on this mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for staying with me! I'm excited to keep this going and of course this is a slow burn. 'Til next time!


	5. Cats Dream Too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a forewarning, I do not condone, nor advise, self-harm as a solution to mental health issues. I didn't go into any serious details, but it is mentioned. Thanks for reading!

Catra walks down that hall that leads to the maintenance bay for vehicles. Someone told her to go down there to check on the status of her group’s skiff _. If this damn thing isn’t operating, then we could all scratch ourselves out of the big mission coming up to Thaymore_. _Why do I always have to be the responsible one?_ She nears the large open metal doors to go in and hears someone tinkering inside. The metal clanks as a few of the mechanics are looking over a variety of their machinery.

She looks around for hers when she catches a familiar scent.

She’s caught completely off guard.

It makes her stop in her tracks. Her eyes widen and her breath hitches.

She closes her eyes to take in a long drag of the delicious smell. It was faint, but for Catra it was clear as day. She can sense it through the harsh smell of metal and oil that normally makes her sensitive nose twinge.

She starts to let her feet move in the direction it leads her to. Her eyes open barely a sliver to keep her from bumping into things. She walks towards the southern wall just past an M88 tank when the scent disappears.

Catra’s eyes shoot open and she feels like something has been ripped away from her. _How did I lose it?!_ She looks around frantically and then notices a door to her left. She runs towards it and it creaks open automatically with her presence. She goes out into the new hallway and it hits her again. It’s even more pungent now than before and she runs after it. She leaps and continues on all fours – scraping her nails along the floor for traction on a turn. _Marks be damned_ , she thinks. She makes another left turn and she runs into the origin of the scent.

Her body collides with another and they both collapse to the floor from the force. Mismatched eyes meet blue as Catra lays on top of Adora with her hands on each side of her head. They lay there longer than either of them intended “Catra?” Adora says it and it’s like no one has ever said her name that way.

Tears – she doesn’t realize are there – begin to form and prick at the edges of her mismatched eyes. _Adora?_ She then looks down at their compromised position and Catra feels her face become hot.

As if Adora could hear her thoughts, she pulls herself out from under Catra. They both rise facing each other. “Catra, where did you come from?”

“Me? Where the hell did _you_ come from? I-I – Shadow Weaver took you _away_ , Adora!” Her head pounding with anger towards their supposed caretaker – _more like life_ destroyer, Catra rolls her eyes.

She hears Catra, but Adora just smiles after fully realizing that they’re both here. She stands there taking in Catra, like she’s made some monumental change since the last time she’s seen her. There’s something different. She catches the smell of her scent and it feels like something is nagging at her mind. She reaches out pulling in Catra’s warm body, gripping tightly to her.

Catra can hardly believe this is real, and the unexpected physical contact is new. She almost lets out a snarky response like _geeze, someone missed me_ in the most sarcastic tone she could muster; but it remained in her head, and on the tip of her tongue. Instead, something else catches her attention. She rotates her head leaving the top of Adora’s shoulder and takes a deep breath as she nuzzles into Adora’s neck. She finds the source of the lovely smell that makes her feel so completely at home. The movement had happened so simply that it’s almost a reflex of something she’s done so many times before, but she _hasn’t_. It just felt so natural, and she just starts taking in the essence of Adora.

Her scent triggers something in Catra and she finally returns Adora’s embrace. She wraps her arms around the firm body in front of her and she squeezes. She squeezes her hard, digging her nails into the heavy fabric of her jacket. She puts to memory every sensation she feels. Her nose gently glides up the sensitive skin of the blonde’s neck as she inches closer to her ear. After a low hum, Catra rasps out, “hey, Adora,” right into the other girl’s ear.

The show of affection does not fall on dead ears as Adora’s body is covered in chill bumps all the way down her legs. Adora grips tightly at the shirt of the other as she pulls her painfully against her. The need for closeness growing in the blonde’s body. She’s found her again and doesn’t want to let go.

“Shit, Adora,” Catra hisses from the blonde’s brute strength, but she doesn’t push her away.

It also doesn’t deter Adora at all. If anything, it turns her on. Adora isn’t expecting the sensation of desire that surges down into her core after hearing those words and feeling this familiar warm body. Adora groans, and she begins to sense the beginnings of a lustful haze. She raises her head next to Catra’s neck and begins pressing her face against it – breathing in her own share of Catra’s essence – and letting it fog her brain even more.

They begin to grip and writhe in each other’s arms as they try to satiate this deep need to be close to one another. Catra succumbs to the need she has for Adora. It’s one she’s never experienced before, but she can’t help but surrender to it. When she realizes they started getting carried away is when she starts to feel something growing and pressing against the top of her thigh. She remembers learning in her class about when female alphas get aroused – _such a dumb word for horny –_ their clit swells to a much larger size making it able to penetrate. _Fuck,_ Catra thinks, _penetrate sounds amazing._

Adora’s grip on her back and waist gets tighter as she begins to feel a familiar sensation. This time is different than before, though. Before, had been an innocent moment after a heated dream, but this has more fervor to it – more desperation. How long had it been? A few days? A month? They can’t remember, or care. All Adora can think about is Catra’s body on hers and how amazing it feels to her newly formed body part rubbing against her.

A groan comes from Catra’s mouth, “Nnnngh, _fuck_ ” she says it forcefully, like she’s been building up this pressure in her lungs and the only release was to groan in Adora’s ear.

It catches Adora’s immediate attention and she pulls back slightly to look into those blue and yellow eyes, before she loses herself.

Catra’s eyes open to see where Adora’s head had moved to and makes direct eye contact with her. They just stare at each other breathlessly as the blonde looks down at the heated full lips of a cat-girl.

Adora leans in to kiss her –

* * *

Catra sits straight up in her bed gasping at air she could’ve sworn Adora stole from her.

She turns her head left and right as she remembers where she is. It’s still so dark out, she must’ve woken in the middle of the night.

She pulls in her legs as she thinks about what had just happened. She thinks about the moment of closeness that had just been painfully ripped away from her in a matter of moments. _I thought I had her,_ she thinks. _It was just a stupid dream!_ The painful rip in her chest and the need to find Adora and protect her rages through her small body. She lays back and clutches at her shirt, pulling it away to keep it from suffocating her where she lay. Tears stream down her face again, but this time they don’t have permission. She gets angry and furiously rubs them away, biting down on her tongue to keep it from continuing. She distracts herself with the actual physical pain of her incisors digging into her flesh. She focuses all she can on it and throws Adora’s pillow off into the corner - 10 feet away. She grunts as she rolls onto her elbows and knees. Her head is planted on the ground and her hands are balled into fists gripping in her hair as she shuts her eyes tightly. She painfully holds her breath and squeezes her eyes shut as she waits for the moment to pass.

All the physical pain caused slowly drowns out the pain in her chest and she finally takes in air. She slowly controls her breathing as to not make too much noise to alert anyone else. _The last thing I need is some nosey ass poking into my business_ , she thinks. Her eyes that are still tightly pinched shut start to ease into just simply being closed. Her body stops betraying her as it calms. She still vaguely can smell the scent of the alpha that haunts her, and she’ll never admit that she likes how she can still feel the presence of her body against her own. Although painful, she relishes in how good that dream was – how it made her feel close to her best friend once more. She’d work out the overly touchy moment later, when she wasn’t fighting the need to be next to her. She opens her eyes fully and spots the discarded pillow in the corner of the bay. She huffs out a heavy sigh and gets up to retrieve it. She grabs it and brings it back to her bunk and clutches it to her chest with her arms and legs wrapped around it. _Shit, I’m in trouble._

* * *

Catra wakes up when the alarm bell rings throughout the bay.

_No more dreams, thank God._ She rolls over and immediately gets out of the warmth from her mat and shoves the heel of her hand in her eye. She rubs away the sleep – and lack of sleep due to some seriously intense dream – and makes her way over to the locker room to clean up.

She sees Lonnie and gives her a curt nod in her direction as she makes her way to the bathroom. She relieves herself and, after a long torturous night, finds herself wet and sticky as she cleans herself up. _What the fuck?_

“Let’s go Catra! We need to hit up breakfast and make it to the con-op briefing before the mission!” Lonnie’s voice booms in loudly shaking Catra out of her thoughts and reminding her that today was Thaymore.

“Yeah, yeah,” Catra responds. “Don’t get your boxers in a twist, Lonnie. I’ll be out in a second.” She huffs and cleans herself as best as she can and exits the stall. She rushes to her locker and pulls on her clothes, ready to leave. She looks up at Lonnie as they both make eye contact. “What?” Her question comes out harsh.

“Something seems different about you.” Lonnie says it in an accusatory way that puts Catra in a defensive position.

“Nothing is different. Now get your head out of your ass and let’s go.” She huffs and shoves her shoulder past the other girl and starts making her way to the chow hall.

They run into Kyle and Rogelio and start talking about what they’re going to do on the mission. Kyle’s voice rings annoyingly in Catra’s ears, “I don’t know if they’ll let me do a lot, but hopefully I don’t mess up.”

“Oh, shut up Kyle,” Lonnie says. “You’ll be fine! Just don’t do what you did in that simulation when you shot Rogelio.” Lonnie scolds him and Rogelio begins to grunt out his response remembering the frustration from that day.

Catra tunes them out as they’re in line to get their ration bars. She thinks about Adora in the dream and how it seemed like they were starving for each other’s touch. A flash of Adora’s furrowed brow and glazed over eyes as their bodies connected runs through her mind. She can’t stop focusing on how real it all felt.

She’s snapped out of her thoughts when Lonnie shoves Kyle into Catra and she immediately turns – feeling exposed after her very intimate thoughts – and shoves Kyle back into Rogelio. “C’mon guys! Act right for once. If we want to be taken seriously, then we need to get our heads in the game.” Her voice is harsh as she berates them. “Besides, I’m gonna be driving a tank if it kills me and you losers better not mess this up for me!” She shows the whites of her fangs.

“Geeze, Catra” Lonnie says. “Someone’s excited.” She looks at the cat-girl in question and pins her with a look of knowing. “Yano, I heard there was going to be a small insurgent team of alphas coming with us.” She directs her words facetiously towards the other guys as she taunts Catra. “I wonder if Adora will be there.” Her hand is on her chin as she teases.

“Oh!” Kyle interjecting like always. Catra rolls her eyes. “I bet she will be! That’s a great point. I mean she knows how to work with our unit and she’d be a great asset to bring.” His voice is so naïve and cheery it almost makes Catra want to puke.

Catra turns back facing forward completely ignoring the jab Lonnie just sent her way. _She’s been on my case all morning. What the hell is wrong with her?_ She grabs her tray and starts walking to one of the open tables they frequent. She drops it down almost splattering her food, but just looking at it and the feeling fluttering around in her stomach is making her nauseous. _What the hell is wrong with me!?_

Lonnie drops her tray and the others follow suit. They all sit down talking about how they plan to conquer the town and take out at least three princesses. Rogelio grunts in approval at the number and they all laugh.

“Catra,” Lonnie questions. “What makes you think their gonna let you drive a tank anyways? You’re probably gonna roll us off a cliff or something.” Kyle loses it as his water comes shooting out of his nose and Lonnie busts out laughing. Each person is laughing at her, now.

“Hardy-har-har. You’re hilarious.” Her expression is completely blank as she stares back at them. “No. I won’t. If anything, I’ll be able to take out three princesses without any of your guys’ help in that damn thing. So shove it.” She gets up without even touching the food on her tray, leaving the others there to snicker behind her back.

“Catra, don’t forget the con-op is in 20.” Kyle shouts out to the woman just to make sure she remembers.

She raises her hand and waves him off, “yeah-yeah. I’ll be there.”

* * *

She walks towards the maintenance bay and heads insides to check on their skiff for todays mission. She also notices one of the tanks over in the corner that she has her eyes on. She grins mischievously at it. _I’ll be seeing you later_.

She makes it past the center of the room that starts to bring back a sense of déjà vu. Her heart starts thumping a little faster as she nears the same spot as before. She inhales lightly before taking a deep breath.

Nothing.

She can’t smell the intoxicating aroma of a familiar alpha. It brings a sense of disappointment. She can’t seem to let go of what she had been tormented with from last nights dream. _It was so real-_

“Alright! Everybody form up!”

Her thoughts are cut short as a loud voice booms from the doors to the outside. She slinks her way over to the group and finds her usual gang off to the left side of this shit circle. The voice that rang out came from a Force Captain that Catra doesn’t recognize.

They continue speaking, “Alright, soldiers. The mission to Thaymore is vital in the retaliation against the Rebellion. The convoy will depart in 20 minutes. Everyone do a comms check and set the frequency of your radios to 2563. Make sure you have all equipment assigned to your vehicles on board and –“

Catra zones out from this lame briefing. She casually looks around the group of soldiers. As she’s scanning – _pffft,_ _not for anyone in particular_ – she notices a very tall muscley woman off to the side.

“– alphas that are coming with us on this mission. This is Force Captain Huntara” That got Catra’s attention. _Shouldn’t they have started with that?_ She looks to where they’re pointing as she looks over Kyle’s big annoying head. She sees the tall muscley lady nod in their direction and keys Catra in to where the alpha unit is. She leans further and stands on the tips of her toes to get a good look, but she still can’t see. She huffs and shoves Kyle and two other soldiers out of the way, but she makes it to the center of the huddle. She looks over at the group of alphas. _Man, they all smell so… nauseating. Blegh. Adora always smells so musty, but it’s pleasant, like sandalwood. Ugh I can’t smell her over their nasty asses._ She growls as her patience is beginning to run dry.

She can make out the first row of soldiers on the small little force, but there were some more in the back.

“-alright! That’s it. Everyone head over to your vehicles and let’s get ready to move out!”

Everyone starts to disperse towards their vehicles and Catra starts to push herself towards the unit of alphas. She hopes she can catch something, some kind of hint that Adora _is_ here. She rushes forward shoving herself into the alphas, pushing past one after another; and each one gets more aggravated with her by the second. She finally can’t take it, so she calls for her as her voice is just barely above whispering, getting louder each time, “Adora, Adora!”

Suddenly, the group stops moving as the very tall-muscley-Huntara-lady comes straight for Catra. “What you want, little beta?”

Catra’s eyes go wide, but she stands firm. Looking up into her face – a six foot four inch woman from her much shorter stature of five foot six – she shows no fear. “Is Adora with your unit?” She holds her ground and pushes out any fear from the intimidating pheromones being shoved into her face, because the need to see Adora outweighs all of it.

“What’s it to you, runt?” Her eyes shoot daggers into the feline, but Catra does her best to shoot them right back.

“Catra!” Lonnie says. “We need to get to the vehicle.”

The cat woman growls from deep in her throat as she continues her stare down. But Lonnie comes up and grabs her arm.

“Apologies, Force Captain. I’ll handle her.” Lonnie pulls at Catra’s arm and is just barely able to get the two to break apart from their pissing match. They start walking over to the skiff they were assigned.

“What are you doing?!,” says Catra. “I almost got an answer out of her. I need to know if Adora is here.” She’s nearly foaming at the mouth with her anger rising towards Lonnie. Her need to get Adora back is clearly fogging her brain, but she couldn’t care at this point – not when she’s so close.

“Catra,” Lonnie attempts to take a calmer approach to Catra’s anger. “If Adora _was_ here, she would’ve heard your scuffle with their Force Captain and told you to ‘shutup’ herself. You know that. But she didn’t.” Realization hits Catra the moment she heard Lonnie’s words. They made sense even if she didn’t like hearing them. “She must not be here for this mission, Catra, but we still have a job to do. Now, c’mon.” She tries to pull the woman towards their skiff, but she holds her ground and doesn’t move.

“Go,” Catra says. “I’m driving a damn tank.” Frustration and anger clear in her voice as she storms off towards the large behemoth. The soldier is about to mount the cockpit of the vehicle before she grabs him by the back of his vest and tosses him off. His body falls to the ground with a loud thud.

“Hey!” He protests, but Catra just hisses in his direction. She got her tank, now she needs to find out more about where they’re keeping Adora.


	6. The Runaways

Catra’s hair is practically standing on end. She is driving a tank. _I’m driving a freaking tank!_ She shows her canines with her devious smile as she drives it through the brush. She knocks down small trees as the tracks on the vehicle rip through the ground and leave behind ugly trails.

Her adrenaline is pumping, yeah sure Adora isn’t here to share this with and it sucks, but she’s finally made it out on a mission! “Hahaha, Yeah!” She makes sure to keep her distance from the vehicles in front of her. The Force Captain’s _– I still have no idea what their dumb name is_ – vehicle is still in front leading the charge.

This is the moment she’s waited her whole life for. This is the moment she’s been _training_ her whole damn life for. Getting out in the real world. _Getting to do real world shit. I’m so pumped_!

She takes out yet another small bush as they make their way through the forest. She has a hard time feeling any pity. Her whole life has been about survival, and if some dumb plant couldn’t get out of her tank’s way, then that’s how it’s gotta be. Catra has constantly been on the shit end of the stick. It never mattered what she did, Shadow Weaver always had it out for her. She always got in trouble. She had to fight to stay alive and she had to get stronger. She had to _be_ stronger. To finally have this moment of freedom – this moment where it all was finally fucking worth it – she feels so alive. _The only thing that could make this better is… if Adora was here_. They’d be so pumped together.

_Ugh. Stop feeling this way! I don’t need Adora!_ But even as she’s thinking it, her insides are a twisting knot of grief. _Shadow Weaver ruins everything! Even this. She takes everything from me!_ Angry tears start to form, but she hates crying more than she hates Shadow Weaver, because she’s not weak. _She’s not gonna ruin this for me!_

Catra tries to ignore the sinking feelings in her stomach that churn like spoiled milk. She swallows the bile rising in her throat and focuses back onto where she’s going. _This is going to be amazing. I’m so going to kick ass._ She looks over her shoulder briefly to catch a glimpse of Lonnie and Rogelio driving the skiff. They make eye contact and grin fiercely at each other. They all have been fighting tooth and nail for this.

Catra turns back to the trail in front of them as they start to reach a break in the woods. She regains her composure just like the armor she so easily slips on. The Force Captain comes over the radio. “We’ve made contact! Take out all enemies!” It was like they released the reigns on Catra that were holding her back and keeping her in place. She commands her gunner to shoot as she rolls them through the village. Her heart is racing as she looks around. She hopes to spot some princesses soon. She’d ditch this thing and take off on foot if she has to.

Suddenly, as though the thought magically made one appear, a flash of pink pops up in her periphery. She turns her head and spots a princess. _UGH! Yes! This one’s mine!_

Catra rolls her tank forward and gets them close to her, but suddenly the princess poofs and disappears. She rematerializes fifty meters off into the distance with the person she just held in her hands. Catra’s eyes shoot open wide. _There’s no way I can take her in this. I’ll have to take her on foot._

Catra hops out of the hatch of the tank to take off on foot. She looks to her left as she runs to see a boy with arrows firing with some serious precision at her tank she just hopped out of. She sneers and picks up her pace. She takes off running faster than she thought she could. Just before she can reach the princess, she poofs again. Catra looks around, confused, trying to make out where she went off to. She turns and gets a blast of magic to the face. It pushes her back but doesn’t cause any serous pain. She lunges forward trying to stop her from continuing, but she just disappears again.

Catra stays alert as the pink one reappears, and she dodges yet another attack. Catra leaps at her with her claws fully unsheathed to tear her apart. Before she can get to her, she’s blindsided and launched off to the side. Her arms are tied to her side as she looks around to see the arrow boy checking on the pink sparkly one. “Ugh!!! Lonnie! Somebody, get your asses over here!” She yells for backup as explosions are happening all around her. She writhes in her constraints and attempts to reach down and bite through them.

As she struggles, she hears the pair next to her talking about their next moves. “I know you want to help all of these people Glimmer, but there aren’t enough of us. Pretty soon you’re going to run out of magic, and we’ll be in even more danger.”

“Ugh! I know, Bow.” _Gah, Sparkles voice is so annoying,_ Catra thinks. “It just isn’t right. First, we find this awesome sword in the woods that I know my mom is gonna be proud of, but then we can’t even do anything when it comes to actually saving people.”

“No, Glimmer. We could save people, but there’s just too many of the Horde soldiers and just not enough of us to stop them. And hey, we also caught a Horde soldier. That’s something.” _The arrow boy’s optimism is sickening._

Catra continues to struggle in her restraints especially afraid of what’s to come with this ragtag team. _Ugh!_

Unexpectedly, Huntara shows up from behind, looming over the two squabbling concealed behind a bush. They’re going back and forth with each other and hardly notice her presence. Then, she grunts like an animal about to attack.

Bow and Glimmer are facing the opposite direction but smell an intense threatening alpha close by. After hearing Huntara’s grunt, they slowly rotate their heads towards the imminent danger and their eyes shoot wide open.

Catra cackles from her position on the ground. “Oh, you two are in for it now! Hey! Hunter lady, come get me out of this!” She claws at nothing trying to use brute strength to get out of her entrapment.

Huntara just stares down at her and looks back at the two behind the bush. “Hey, you two.”

They squeak in response as they both hold each other’s hands in front of their chests, nearly cowering on the ground.

“Get up.” She commands them and they immediately respond. She walks over to Catra and picks the wiggling girl up and throws her over her shoulder.

“Hey! What are you doing?!” Catra does not like this one bit. She learned some history about alphas and what kinds of ugly things they can do to people. Her instincts start to kick into overdrive. “Put me down and untie me you idiot!” She starts to panic and sweat, releasing her own pheromones.

“Relax, Kitty. I’m not gonna eat you” Her smile is devious, but her tone sounded tired. “You!” She points at Glimmer who almost faints on the spot. “Can you get us out of here?”

Glimmer’s mouth gapes open at the sudden change in direction this conversation is taking. She attempts to speak, but nothing comes out, so Bow speaks for her. “Technically, no. Well, she’s never tried with more than one person.” His eyes shoot to her with concern.

“Well,” Huntara says, “looks like today’s the day we find out.” She shoves her hand forward and places it on her shoulder.

“What!?” Catra’s voice is high pitched and squeaky as she interjects. She’s completely thrown off and confused. “What the hell is happening? You’re with the Horde! Take me back!” She wiggles more and tries to scratch Huntara.

The taller woman grabs Catra by the tail and holds her out with an extended arm. “Woah, Kitty! No biting, or I’ll do something you’ll more than regret.”

Catra is writhing in pain at this point. There’s just too much weight for her tail to hold and the pressure almost feels like she’s about to dislocate something. She calms her movements for a moment, but her breaths are still coming out quickly, panting. “Fine!”

“Alright,” Huntara tosses her back up onto her shoulder and Catra’s head hangs down her back. “Let’s do this Princess, we don’t have all day.” She looks left and right, making sure that there’s no way they could be spotted as deserters.

Glimmer gulps and reaches her hand out for everyone to grab onto. She musters all the power she has for fear of this giant alpha. If she wasn’t so scared, she’d probably be impressed, or worse turned on and _now is_ not _the time to be having thoughts like that._ She closes her eyes and before they know it they’re all sputtering into Glimmers magic.

They land close to the tree line of the whispering woods, it was only about 100 meters away from where they originally were.

“Glimmer!” Bow reaches out to catch the spent princess before she falls to the ground. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine” she responds, but knows she used far more magic than she should’ve if they wanted to make it home safely.

“Blegh, I think I’m gonna be sick.” Catra starts to gag from behind Huntara and the giant lady drops her straight to the ground with no remorse. She hits the ground hard and rolls onto her side as she tries to calm her stomach by taking deep breaths.

“Well,” Huntara says “not as far away as I would’ve liked, but it’s something.” She starts walking off, making her way through the woods.

Catra stirs from her vomiting stupor, “wait! You can’t just _leave_ me here. With these two!”

Huntara turns back to them, “I can do whatever I want. Plus, _you’re_ their prisoner, not me.” She turns to walk away again.

Glimmer and Bow just stand next to each other glancing back and forth between the two.

Catra starts to panic and she’s about to lose her shit, too. She thrashes on the dirt frustrated with her situation and confused as to what just happened. _So what!? She’s just defecting!?_ “Ugh! You coward! Get back here and untie me! I’ll show you…” She manages to pull her elbow up past the ropes and pulls her arm out the rest of the way. She claws at them and they easily fall to the side. Her insides are boiling with anger.

Huntara finally turns just in time to see Catra leap towards her face. She dodges to the left, but not without Catra utilizing her strong legs and clawing at the older woman’s chest. Huntara hisses at the pain and runs to take down the pretty-kitty. “Urrrgh!” She reaches her hands out and is able to grab one of Catra’s arms, although she was trying to reach for her tail again. That had seemed to be effective.

Catra turns her whole body sideways and latches her legs around the woman’s torso – hand still trapped by the large woman. The move is pristine as she uses her agility against the slow brute strength of Huntara. She reaches her other hand to the woman’s face and gives it a slash leaving claw marks across her face.

Huntara screams in pain and uses both of her arms to grab the damn cat off her back using bone crushing strength.

Catra claws the woman all the way up her back until she’s being held out like a child. Huntara doesn’t even give her the chance to retaliate and she throws her forward smashing her body against a tree knocking her unconscious.

The older woman pants, her lungs working overtime after that fight, and tries to stand straight. She hisses at the deep lashes Catra left in the muscle of her back. She looks over to the other two standing off in the corner hugging each other. “You idiots gonna tie her back up?” Her voice is harsh, but so is the pain from her back. “I don’t suppose you can heal with that magic of yours.”

Glimmer’s eyes are wide as she realizes the question is directed at her. She smiles uncomfortably, “uhm… no. Sorry?”

“Ugh, of course.” She looks up to the sky and realizes that it’ll be dark soon. Inside the forest they go. She takes one last glance over her shoulder at the calamity that’s occurring and the screams that are drifting to her ears. She just breathes a heavy sigh. “Let’s get movi… Dammit, you idiots still haven’t tied her up!?” Her voice is now full of exasperation.

Bow pipes up, his whole body as stiff as a rod as he runs over to Catra’s still limp body. She groans as he nervously releases the mechanism from his arrow. It comes out with much less velocity when it’s been hand released and he’s able to tie her back up with the knots her learned from a book once.

Once Catra is tied up tight, Huntara moves to grab her. She sighs heavily as she hoists the damn she-devil onto her other shoulder – the one that’s not clawed through. “Damn kids.”

“Bow,” Glimmer whispers screams at him. “We need to get home tonight! There’s no way my mom won’t be mad at me if she finds out we left. I don’t even know if we can trust these people!”

“I know, Glim, but we don’t have much of an option. You’re magic is practically drained. We’re lucky you can still walk.” They both follow behind Huntara as she carries the half dead cat. “Let’s just stick it out until morning and we can head straight for Bright Moon. She’ll be thrilled we found that weird sword _and_ a Horde soldier prisoner. Right?”

She sighs, “yeah. I hope so.”

* * *

Catra eases her eyes open as she comes to. Everything is really dark as she looks around. She sees light off in the distance in the shape of a body. “Hey!” She winces at the pain in her head and claws her fingers over the skin of her face.

She still sees the silhouette of light. She walks towards it and it moves away from her.

Confused, she takes another hesitant step forward and it does the same. “What the hell?”

She starts to run towards it and it takes off like a bolt of light. She tries to keep up but she can’t.

Soon, another body comes into view. It’s just so far in the distance that she can’t make out who it is. The light form drifts their trajectory towards them. Catra is even more confused as they approach this person and Catra can finally see who it is.

“Adora?”

The light figure makes a B-line for Adora.

“Adora watch out!” She reaches for her best friend, but it’s too late. The light consumes her. It changes her and it shifts her. Then the flash of bright light surrounds them both and it leave a warm comforting feeling. She can smell the comforting scent of Adora and a much stronger desirable scent coming from her. The two scents intermingle and Catra sees stars behind her eyes. She opens them once more to be in the arms of Adora, but she’s different. She’s wearing white with gold trim and her hair is cascading down over her back. There’s a sword in the hand that isn’t cradling Catra’s back. She looks up into those familiar blue eyes and starts to melt.

* * *

Huntara finally feels they’ve travelled far enough not to still be chased by the Horde. She has so desperately wanted to leave that place. They only ever did horrible things, and she just kept leading those poor baby alphas to the slaughter.

Her moment of reflection is interrupted when she hears whispering from behind her. “Ugh, when is this gonna stop?” The girl complaining about her feet, no doubt. _Damn omegas. Some are fierce and some are just plain princesses._ She rolls her eyes and wants to continue marching forward, but the cat starts to stir on her shoulder. That is one thing she does _not_ want to have happen again. She drops Catra to the ground like a sack of flour. She hears a snap come from the fall and wonders if it was a twig or her fragile little kitty bones.

The noise catches the others’ attention. They’re heads snap up after dragging their feet for the last two miles.

“Alright, we’ll make camp here. Bright Moon should be about 10 clicks that way.” She points to their right side. “We can finish the trip in the morning.”

“Oh thank goodness!” Glimmer falls to her hands and knees as she lets the throbbing in her legs ease up. Bow reaches down to make sure she’s okay. “What are clicks?” She directs the question at Bow and he just shrugs his shoulders.

Huntara starts to get things ready for the night. She’s heard some crazy stories about this forest and doesn’t want to know if any of the damn things are true. She reaches for some dead branches on the ground and starts gathering them together.

Catra stirs from her fall moments ago and groans with her face in the dirt. “What the literal fuck?” She rolls to her side and sees the behemoth a few yards away gathering shit. Her head pounds from all the chaos and anger still boiling inside.

“Hey look, the kitty’s awake.” Huntara turns and drops the wood down at Catra’s feet.

Catra grunts from the disrespectful display, but she knows that she’s clearly in no position to retaliate. She looks around to make sure they aren’t alone, and the massive witch didn’t just kidnap her for her alpha desires. She thankfully sees the other two picking up much smaller excuses for sticks in the distance.

“Ugh, why are you doing this?” Catra spits out between clenched teeth.

Huntara continues to grab more branches and drop them in front of Catra. “Yano, you’re a confusing little one. You have the spunk and feistiness of an omega, but you reek of a beta. You almost take _me_ on asking about some alpha friend of yours, but that alpha is in prime condition for an omega. She’d never go after some beta. You’re very curious, kitty.”

“Ugh! Tell me what you know about Adora. Where are they keeping her?” She figures if she’s going to be left for dead eventually, then she at least deserves some information first. She wiggles some in her restraints, but Bow made them much tighter this time around.

The older woman continues to set up camp, hardly paying any mind to what Catra is saying. She sets up the base posts for a shelter and makes sure they’re steady. “Hmmm Adora. Which one is that again?”

“Ugh! You just said you knew her.”

Huntara thinks deeply. “Oh right, the one who gave me the heart eyes.-“

This causes a reaction from Catra and she starts to thrash once again. Growling deep in her throat she spits out “bullshit! Adora’s not into you, you friggin monstrosity.”

“Oh yeah? Then who _is_ she into? You?” The woman taunts Catra finding her childish reactions to be quite funny. _Oh, to be young again._

“What!? N-no. I don’t know! She’s my best friend, but I know she wouldn’t be into you, ya meathead.” She is panting with irritation and her constraints are making her fuming mad again. _Who am I kidding? Adora always stares at the dumb jocks with muscles in the locker room._ She rolls her eyes.

Bow and Glimmer make eye contact wondering how long this is gonna last. Glimmer just rolls her eyes, shrugging.

“Yeah,” Huntara starts “Adora is something else. She definitely has potential. She out races all of the other alphas and doesn’t take any of their shit.”

“Heh, of course she doesn’t.” Catra says it proudly.

“Yep! She’ll probably end up with some omega. They always do. Especially the ones on that side of the Fright Zone. They’re always so desperate to find the best ones.” Huntara just goes on her tangent as she finishes putting together the makeshift awning to protect them from elements. _This is quite entertaining._

Catra starts to lose control of her reaction and of herself. All she can see is a group of flighty omegas standing around _her_ Adora. They’re pouting their lips and giving off their bullshit scents to get her attention. Catra loses control of her emotions. “Who are they? I’ll rip out their throats!”

“Hopefully, none of those vying omegas are in heat!” Huntara chuckles and continues to taunt Catra. Each jab making her grin bigger and bigger. “Oh man, she hasn’t even been trained to resist those pheromones yet. She’ll be-“

“Shut up! Shut up already!” Catra’s insides are blazing hot with jealousy. She never thought she could feel this way, but there’s no way in hell Adora is going to be tempted by all of those pathetic excuses for omegas. _Adora is mine!_ She sits there panting her fury away. She knows she’s not the best at holding in her emotions, but this subject just forces them out of her. It’s like there’s something else entirely taking her over from the inside.

“Hmmm,” the older woman finds herself at a loss. “You are definitely interesting. You even react like an omega.” She taps her chin. “When was the last time you ate?” She looks over to Catra with this questioning look as she just finishes tying her last knot.

Catra, flustered, tries to focus on the question. She’s still so agitated from Huntara goading her. “Why?”

The older woman squints her eyes with this deadly glare at Catra. “No reason.” Her mood completely shifts back to when she was torturing the poor feline. She moves to pick up the extra wood. “You other idiots have enough wood yet? I’m already done with the shelter for crying out loud.”

Bow and Glimmer look at her amazing craftmanship as it almost sparkles with how pristine it is. Their jaws drop in amazement and they take what they have over to her.

“Great, now drop those here and we’ll get started on a fire.” Huntara directs them. They seem much more relaxed knowing that camp will be set up and it doesn’t look like they’ll die anytime soon.

“Hey! Meathead! I’m talking to you!” Catra huffs out panting breaths as she still can’t seem to control the way she feels about the omegas flocking to Adora. “Why do you want to know when I last ate!?”


	7. Mental traps

Adora pants as she leans over her knees catching her breath. Her and the other alphas have been training their sense of smell. Apparently now that she’s an alpha her senses are much keener than they used to be, which is understandable. But the new and improved sense of smell has also become somewhat of a burden. She’s never been coaxed awake by someone walking by her room with breakfast before.

They tell her that all new baby alphas’ instincts start working in full force. For instance, what a more realized alpha might let slide, a baby alpha instead just doesn’t know how to control themselves.

Adora has been realizing a lot about herself is different. Her lungs feel stronger as they expand and allow her to breathe more deeply. Running has not been a problem lately and if anything, she appreciates the boost in stamina.

 _I thought I was competitive before, but now!_ She internally laughs as her eyes get determined. She sees other alphas roaming around the arena in search of an explosive device. They were only given a few seconds to remember what it smelled like before they were dropped into the simulator. Adora catches a familiar metallic scent just barely with the twitch of her nose. She closes her eyes and follows it, but just barely opening them on occasion as to not run into anything. It keeps getting stronger and her wild competitive nature starts urging her on.

She climbs over an obstacle and then another as the smell increases. Out of the corner of her eye however, she notices that there’s an alpha close by. She’s been lingering closer and closer to Adora in the simulators, no doubt trying to jump in the last second and steal her victory.

She catches the direct trail of the scent and hastily runs for it. She follows it until it fills her sinuses. Adora looks around the immediate area. _I know it’s here. It’s gotta be!_ She turns left then right in search of the key component and finally spots it a couple meters away in the center of a cracked tree. The explosive component shines brightly as the light from the top of the simulation catches it. She turns and sees that female alpha running towards her.

“Aaaah!!” The female runs at Adora with fierce intensity. Her teeth are borne, and she looks ravenous. Adora catches the alpha as she leaps towards her midsection. The two tumble backwards as the female attempts to take out Adora from the competition. They both hit the ground hard.

The female alpha has light skin, very similar to Adora’s, and dark flowing hair. She rears back a punch to throw at the blonde, but she puts up her simulated shield stopping her from following through.

Adora starts to feel exhilarated at the challenge. She hasn’t had anyone come after her directly before. It has only been challenges and team building exercises, but this is different. The alpha uses her strength to smother Adora and pin her to the ground. She wants Adora to submit –

That gets Adora’s attention as she begins to realize this isn’t some game like she used to play with her childhood friend. This is dominance. She’s heard about it from the alpha orientation she finally went to on Scorpia’s orders. Alphas fight for dominance and the better alpha always comes out on top. A surge begins to run through her veins as the other tries to grab an arm to pin her with. She feels the heat rise and a growl releases from deep in her throat. Her eyebrows knit together as she focuses. She pulls her arm back with so much force is makes the other female fall over her shoulder.

The alpha’s body skids away into a rock formation. Adora takes the opportunity to get up and run straight at her. She lands on top of her grabbing at her limbs and pins her down. She hovers closely to the other’s neck as she growls. A scent comes off the woman beneath her and she feels her become lax. She recognizes the submission without even having any reference, or previous experience.

She grunts and raises herself off the other and makes her way over to the area she spotted the explosives. Other alphas are getting closer, but she’s already had her eyes on the item and picks it up right away.

A buzzer alarms overhead as she does so, and it lets everyone know the simulation has been completed. She looks up and around noticing the other alphas heading towards the exit. She looks back at the spot where she pinned the other woman and doesn’t see her. _Well, that was intense._ She turns as leaves the arena dropping the scrap metal into a bin.

Adora still tries to fight down the urge of her alpha making its’ presence known in her mind. She closes her eyes and cranks her neck enough to pop it before she finally starts to relax. She looks around as they all receive a debriefing on the training and catches the eyes of the alpha who she dominated. _I dominated you,_ she says in her mind as she holds their eyes. The other looks down and away.

* * *

After a tense session Adora starts to make her way to the chow hall with everyone. She is finally getting a chance to relax from their long day. She grabs her food behind everyone else in line and makes her way over to a table. Meals haven’t been the same since she left the other side of the Fright Zone. She always ate with Catra. The thought instantly brings longing in her chest. A deep remorse from what happened…

She shakes her head free of those thoughts. She’s sure Catra is doing great and she probably doesn’t even miss Adora. Catra has always been the one who didn’t get too caught up in emotional stuff. She probably still eats with Lonnie and the guys.

Adora rolls her eyes as she shoves another bite of food into her mouth. Sometimes Scorpia and her were here at the same time and she would eat with her. Her positive attitude always keeps Adora excited about her training. Talking to her about stuff just always makes her feel better. Scorpia just has that effect on people, she supposes.

But today she doesn’t seem to be around. Adora would usually be able to hear her as soon as she enters the dining facility. She just chalks it up to missing Scorpia today and she’ll just see her later.

Out of nowhere, she senses a presence behind her. The scent familiar, she turns and notices the alpha from before. She looks at her with her eyebrows knitted together.

“Hey,” the other female says. “Can I sit here?” Her chin is up in defiance, but Adora doesn’t take it as disrespect. She’s known her fair share of distrusting soldiers in the Horde. Hell, she shared a bunk with one for over a decade.

“Sure.” Adora continues to eat the slop on her plate while the other woman sits next to her right side. They sit there in silence for a few breaths as they both start to eat.

“I’m Dometria.” She looks over at Adora, shoving food into her mouth after she spoke.

Adora looks over at her realizing the trepidation of the other. “Adora.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Oh.”

“You’re pretty strong.” She turns to Adora now facing her fully. Her left leg is draped over the bench, straddling it. “They sure do talk you up a lot. Not that I don’t get it, though.” She eyes Adora up and down – seeming to be sizing her up.

Adora’s eyebrows rise up her face. “Yeah, well if anyone else here was any competition, then they wouldn’t have to talk about me so much.” She wonders if Catra would be proud of that one. She was always trying to get her to smack-talk other people, but she just never felt the need to. It was always fun enough to give Catra a hard time and they would just give each other crap. _Gah, I miss that._

The words just roll off her lips like she has to keep this one in her place. She could sense the other was trying to get a sense of her. Adora has always been somewhat of a nice push-over, but the alpha inside her will not let that happen. Not with this one.

“Heh,” Dometria halfheartedly chuckles. “Yeah, shit happens. But you know they’re just using us right?”

“Well… maybe, but I want to get control of my instincts. If they can help me with that, then I’m going to give it my all.” She turns back to her food, not letting the tone of this conversation disturb her.

“Why?” The simple question hangs in the air as Dometria looks back down to her plate.

Adora turns to her again. “Then, I can go out into the field sooner, and maybe get to see my friends again.” Adora clenches her utensil tightly in her hand. _I have to get back, somehow._

“Good enough reason I guess.” Dometria eyes Adora warily. She shoves one last bite into her mouth and drops her utensil down to her tray. “Look, I want something similar. We should help each other out. Push each other to be better.” Her tone is serious, but also eager.

Adora’s eyes open wider in surprise. She definitely did not expect that to come from the overly competitive alpha. She eyes the woman up and down as she decides if she can trust her. _In the least we could build off of each other until we make it out into the field._

“I know what you’re thinking.” Adora becomes confused worried her thoughts were discovered. “I’m not very bulky or big, but I’m strong and smart.”

Adora sighs internally knowing she didn’t read her thoughts.

“With both of our abilities we should be able to conquer this shit,” Demetria says with confidence.

“Sounds good. We should meet up regularly to go over stuff.” Adora takes another bite of her food after she agrees.

“Sweet. I’ll come by your room later.” Dometria goes to pick up her tray to leave. Adora nods her head in response. “Sure, okay. See ya later.”

Dometria walks off out of the dining hall and Adora sits there for a moment taking all that in. _Hmmm. I’ll have to keep her at arm’s length…_ Her eyes close in content. _This gray slop is_ so _much better than the other kind!_

Adora finishes her food and leaves to head back to her room. Since they’re finished with todays training, she heads to her room to grab her stuff to take a shower. She might hangout for just a bit because the showers are always full the first 30 minutes after drill.

She turns the corner and heads back to her room. She walks in noticing Scorpia is packing her stuff.

“Woah,” Adora says. “What’s going on Scorpia?”

The woman turns in the direction of Adora’s voice and startles from the surprise. “Adora! Oh man! There you are. I’ve been looking for you everywhere! Well, there was the arena, the weight room and then our room, which is this spot and why I’m currently right here. But! I’m glad I found you. Have you heard what’s happened?” Scorpia extends out her claws in exaggeration like her mind is about to explode.

“Uh, no. I haven’t heard anything yet, at least I don’t think so.”

“Oh, man! So okay you may need to sit down for this.” The larger woman grabs Adora by her shoulders and gently picks her up to rotate around and place her down onto her own bed. Adora’s eyes are wide and she’s fairly impressed by the feat. Scorpia kneels to one knee. “Listen,” she sighs. “Force Captain Huntara… well… she got captured. By the Rebellion.”

“Oh…” Adora’s shoulders tense. “We’ve got to do something.”

“Woah, there Hotstuff. Lets not go hijack a skiff and take off on an adventure by ourselves; although, that does sound fun.” Scorpia puts her claw to her chin in thought and looks down in contemplation. She turns back, “no, no it’s a terrible idea. There’s nothing we can do right now. Lord Hordak knows and he’ll be planning a mission to retrieve her soon.” She looks into Adora’s eyes reassuringly.

Adora slumps down after finally taking a breath and hearing the truth in her words.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” She scares Adora out of her thoughts. “She wasn’t the only one. The unit they were with sent a young crew out with them, like four or five cadets. It was their first missions and uh, one of them got captured too.”

Adora furrows her brow in concern for the poor soldier. “Um. Wasn’t that the mission to Thaymore? What unit did they even go with?”

“Oh! Uhm, it was one of the old units on the far side of the Fright Zone…”

Adora’s heart sinks for just a moment.

“… yeah it was Delta 1-19. Why do you –“ Scorpia notices Adora’s shock. “Oh no, is that you’re old unit?”

Adora’s eyes lower to the floor, not really focusing on anything. “Yeah, it was. Have they said anything about the soldier that was captured?” She starts to wring her hands together in her lap.

“Oh, shoot. Yano, I haven’t heard anything like a name, but maybe I could look into it for you.” Scopria stands to her full height in front of Adora. She clears her throat.

Adora cuts her off from what she was about to say, though. Her mind wants to run rampant on all of the reasons she should be freaking out. “Why are you um… packing?”

The bigger woman puts her claw behind her neck in trepidation. “Right! I was just about to tell you. I’m you’re new Force Captain! Haha,” she says it very awkwardly as though she isn’t sure how Adora will take the new information.

Adora’s eyes widen at the news, “congrats! That’s a big promotion. Wow.” She gets up and extends her arms for an embrace, which is when Adora realizes her mistake.

Scopria beams at the support and reaches out to Adora. She picks her up squishing her arms to her sides and squeezes her in a big bear hug. Adora nearly suffocates in the woman’s strong arms. She sets the smaller woman down. “Oh! Sorry, I’m just so relieved that you’re excited for me. I was worried you’d be mad or something.”

“Mad? Where did you get that from?”

Scorpia looks down as she shrugs her shoulders.

“Scopria, you’ve helped me with so much and you work super hard. I’d be so proud to be your soldier. Plus I know you’ll take care of us newbies and trust me, we need it.” She winks behind her hand as if to clue in Scorpia that she has her work cut out for her.

“Oh wow! That’s just so sweet. Thank Adora. Gosh you’re just such a good friend. I’m going to finish up packing and then I’ll see what I can do about finding out about that soldier. I’m sure one of the higher ups have to know something.” She walks over and continues to pack her few things into a duffle bag and her gear unto a rucksack.

Adora huffs and drops her head down as she grabs her shower stuff. She packs things into a caddy so she can carry it all a little easier. _I can’t believe they got Huntara. She’s so strong and big! This just doesn’t make any sense… If they could get her, then they could get…_ She doesn’t let her thought finish. She can’t even think about that right now, especially when she isn’t sure. It’ll only get her worked up and she doesn’t need that right now.

She grabs her towel and heads out to the showers.

* * *

She makes her way to where the alphas shower on this side of the barracks rooms. On the way she keeps catching glances from people walking by her. She grabs the collar of her shirt and sniffs wondering if she smells terrible or something. Her face twinges a little, but she doesn’t smell too bad. Her scent has been way more potent since she started developing her alpha characteristics. She doesn’t know how omegas could be so attracted to it.

She isn’t sure what everyone’s deal is though that keep looking at her, so she just keeps on walking. Then, one of them decides to stop her. “Hey, there alpha. You can shower with me.” Thankfully for Adora, their friend gasps loudly and berates her as she pulls her along, giggling their way to the other showers. Those locker rooms are for betas and a select few omegas on this side of the Fright Zone.

 _What is it with omegas? One wiff and boom, they lose their minds._ A trace thought did remind her of the absolute absurdity of how the alphas were training with the manufactured omega scent a few days ago. She rolls her eyes at herself.

She makes it to the shower area and sets her stuff down at one of the lockers. She hears a couple people still showering and feels relief at how sparce they are. She takes off her clothes and grabs her caddy bringing it over to one of the open stalls. She hangs her towel just outside on a hook adjacent to her shower and turns on the hot water. She’s surprised there isn’t an open bay shower. That’s how they used to shower back in her old unit. It was open and vulnerable, but she never felt vulnerable at all. She knew everyone there and Catra was always just on the other side of her.

She huffs at her inability to not think about her best friend and walks into the stream of water. It scolds her scalp down to her back and thighs, but it brings relief with it. It washes away all the crap from today and she can just be. She inhales the steam and it soothes her throat and lungs. She lathers the soap onto her hands and rubs it down over her own stomach, rippled with muscle from the constant training. Then, she remembers when they were twelve:

_“What the hell Adora?” Catra exclaimed ripping the blonde’s attention off the heat of the water and towards her instead. “Since when do you have abs?” The catgirl said staring at the blonde’s stomach. She’d stopped the movements of her arms that were lathering her own body in soap._

_“Huh?” Adora looked down to her stomach. “You’re blind. I’ve had them since forever! Besides you have them too.” She pointed to Catra whose face was inflamed with a blush so cute Adora could’ve died._

_Catra looked down at her own body and then back to Adora’s. “Yeah, but they’re not like yours. Yours are more muscley.” She reached out and touched the skin of Adora’s stomach, It was light like she could’ve just been making an observation, or light like she was reaching with trepidation, but Adora couldn’t tell. The fingers grazed down her stomach for a second and then they were gone. Adora felt way more than just the heat from the shower because of the touch from her best friend._

_“Eh, yeah they’re pretty much the same I guess.” Catra said it so nonchalantly like she hadn’t just invaded Adora’s personal space and invaded so deeply that she left a trace of herself behind. The cat girl goes back to rinsing out her hair, but Adora couldn’t help but look at her just a little bit differently, even though she wasn’t sure why it was different. –_

Adora groans at her attachment to her best friend and how it’s borderline obsession at this point. _Why can’t I just be normal for once?_ Adora does her best not to focus on the woman that will not leave her subconscious. _I don’t need to shift in here, ugh how embarrassing would that be?_

Instead of forcing herself not to think of Catra, she tries to figure out what’s going on with herself. What does she have to do with all of this? _I can’t believe I keep thinking of Catra like this. It doesn’t even seem right. The Horde doesn’t condone anything personal, hardly even friendships._ She groans inside her head as she dissects her thought process. She also lathers up her hair making sure to get all the oils and dirt out. She gently scratches at her scalp loving the way her nails feel.

 _Why do I keep doing this to myself, she probably doesn’t even feel the same way?_ She pinches her eyes tight as the water flows over her head. The suds running down over her shoulders and her strong back. The tight muscles in her body coil and uncoil as she shifts her weight from one leg to the other making sure she rinses herself clean. _I shouldn’t be dreaming of Catra the way that I am. It isn’t right. It’s like I’m fooling myself or taking advantage of the image of her._ She digs the heels of her palms into her eyes in frustration and also making sure no soap gets in.

The mental torment of all the confusion brings tears to her eyes. She doesn’t want to lose Catra. She needs her back but thinking of her brings so much need and longing. She starts to feel afraid that she wouldn’t ever be able to see Catra differently than how she sees her in her dreams. There’s no way she could stand to be near her again without wanting to know what she truly tasted like, and that scares the shit out of her. They grew up so closely and promised that they’d always be there for each other. _But now I’m not. Gah, she must hate me. She’s there all alone with Shadow Weaver. I have to get back to her. To protect her._

A surging, overwhelming need to protect Catra starts to take control of her alpha. The hormones coursing through her are strong and almost overpowering. But there’s a commotion in the locker room that startles her out of her thoughts. She opens her eyes _when did I close them?_ And she turns the knobs to exit the shower. She grabs her towel and barely dries herself before she throws on whatever clothes she brought and rushes back to her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh this is getting good. I have the story all mapped out and I can't wait. Thank you so much for your support!


	8. Startling revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something I just wanted to remind everyone is that the Horde lied to everyone about princesses and the rebellion. People of the Rebellion are supposedly cruel and diabolical. Just keep it in mind as you read this chapter. Sorry it took so long.

Adora makes her way back to her room from the shower. She notices that Scorpia was able to gather all her things and head out before she got back. _Well, she won’t be going too far. She’ll still be my Force Captain, s_ he thought. She lets out a sigh, realizing that the one stable thing she’s had since arriving here just disappeared. It’s like everyone else…

She mopes a minute longer only postponing drying and brushing her hair. She prefers it up when it’s wet though and lightly piles the majority of it on top of her head with a hair tie to hold it in place.

The previous realization and the culmination of everything, and everyone, that she keeps losing starts to torment her; and the voice of Shadow Weaver just tells her she doesn’t need them. But it only makes her feel more alone.

She clutches her hand to the fabric of her shirt over her chest. She grips it hard as she clenches and unclenches her jaw. Shadow Weaver has always made her feel like she shouldn’t need anyone, because she’s so great; but the pedestal she was always placed on was so lonely. The resentment the others felt towards her for always being in Shadow Weavers good graces would tear her apart. _Shadow Weaver may be gone, but her grip feels like it’s just as tight around my neck as ever…_

Tears start to burn at the edges of her eyes, but she catches a scent coming from down the hall. The alpha from within her cuts off her thoughts and she wipes away the tears that never had a chance to fall.

Adora hears a knock at the doorframe from behind her. She turns and meets with a familiar face. “Oh, hey Demetria.” She gives her small smile as if nothing had been racing through her mind only a few seconds ago.

“’Sup?” She holds her toothbrush in her mouth, nibbling on it every now and then, and her shower caddy in her other hand.

 _She must not have made it to the showers yet,_ Adora thinks. “Nothing much, just finished showering.” She looks down to her hands in her lap. “Did you hear? About Force Captain Huntara?” She finally looks up into amber eyes.

Those same eyes sharply cut to a corner of the floor before she responds. “Yeah,” She looks intensely back to Adora. “Whelp, that’s why you don’t get too close to anybody here. It’s easy to get caught up in battle.” She notices Adora’s furrowed brow at her response and backpedals, “it is unfortunate, though.” Demetria crosses her arms over her chest. “She was a badass. We definitely could’ve learned a lot from her.”

“You keep talking like she’s dead or something” Adora interjects.

“Well, she might as well be now that she’s with the Rebellion. They’ll probably torture her for information and when she finally breaks, they’ll send her to the Waste.” She shrugs nonchalantly.

“Yikes, you really think so? I mean – I know they’re heartless-bloodsuckers, but would they really do that? I figured maybe there’d be time to set up a rescue mission.”

A sharp bark of laughter left Demetria’s lips. “You really think Lord Hordak would waste his time for one soldier?”

“Well, Scor – Force Captain Scorpia said they would. They were briefing it now. Plus, she isn’t the only one. They uh, took another soldier. One from my last unit actually.” Adora looks back down to her hands, but she tries not to show this lightweight alpha how vulnerable she feels at the thought of one of her friends missing.

“Shit. Sorry to hear that.” Demetria awkwardly looks around the room, unsure of what to settle her eyes on.

Adora’s alpha can hear the pity in her voice and can’t stand how it makes her feel. She stands facing the woman. “Yeah, well we’ll figure something out. I’m sure of it. I’ll even offer myself to help if I need to.” Her gaze is fierce and determined.

Demetria sees the spark she saw in the training grounds once more. She smiles at the other alpha “I knew she was in there somewhere.” Adora makes a flustered and confused expression as Demetria laughs at her ineptitude. “Later, tough-girl. I’m gonna hit the showers. We’ll talk tomorrow at chow about how we want to tackle this training.” Demetria waves her hand and exits the doorway making her way down the hall.

Adora closes her door and knits her brows together once more in confusion trying to figure out what’s so funny.

Suddenly the door flings open and catches Adora completely off guard. Her alpha kicks in as she spins around and lunges at the body entering the room. Nobody involved has a moment to think before Adora’s reflexes to defend herself kick in. “Ow,” says the voice from the body that was just shoved into a metal wall. Scorpia’s massive body is pinned from Adora’s forearms and realization hits Adora like a freight train. “Scorpia? Shit! I’m sorry.”

Adora pulls back and wraps her arms around her own body trying to feel more in control.

“Woah! Killer instincts, Adora. Nice one.” Scorpia is hardly phased by the physical confrontation. Her exoskeleton probably providing all kinds of shock absorption and protection. She chuckles and puts her claw behind her head as she apologizes. “Geez, I guess I should probably knock next time, especially since we aren’t roommates anymore. Gosh, I’m really sorry about that Adora. I wasn’t thinking.”

Adora almost took the opportunity to tell Scorpia it was her own fault and not the larger woman’s, but she was cut off before she could even let a word out.

“Oh, hey! I got some intel on the other person that was captured from your unit.” Scorpia uses her big claws to grab at Adora’s shoulders and gently push her until the backs of her knees were at the bed. “Ok, you should probably sit down, because I have no idea if you know this person and I don’t want you to like faint or anything. This way you’ll already be sitting and it’ll be easier, so you won’t hurt yourself. An –“

“Scorpia,” Adora sits now holding her hands around Scorpia’s forearms. Adora attempts to use the position to keep them focused enough so Scorpia will tell her the damn name. She lets out a breath. “Ok, I’m sitting.” Adora does her best to calm the both of them. “Tell me who it is.”

“I think you mentioned their name before.” Scorpia winces through her words and Adora tenses at her statement. She doesn’t hardly talk about her previous unit, but she knows if there’s one person she’d talk about it would be… “It’s a soldier named Catra –“

All sound, including Scorpia’s invading voice, begins to fade and become nothing. Adora looks to the ground like she’s staring off into the distance. Her breathing starts to increase and her mind begins to run rampant with thoughts of a tortured Catra. She can see her and _hear_ her screaming in pain as her mind concocts scenarios that have only been reiterated by the Horde.

Scorpia starts to notice Adora’s off gaze and reaches down to look her in the eyes. She repeats her name hoping at some point Adora will come back to her. But she doesn’t…

Adora can see Catra tied up and struggling to escape and something finally snaps like a branch being struck by lightning in the midst of a storm. A low rumble escapes from deep within her chest and the glazed over look becomes focused and primal.

Scorpia starts to realize that Adora is about to lose herself to her inner alpha and tries to snap her out of it, but she can’t.

Adora’s hormones and need to protect and rescue Catra take over. She grunts as she feels confined in Scopria’s arms and rips herself away from her. Her heart races as her alpha instincts kick on and a glowing bright light invades the entire room.

The light is so blinding Scorpia can barely see, or understand, what’s happening. She shields her face momentarily until it fades. What’s left is the form of a much larger and much stronger looking Adora. “Woah! Adora?! Okay, buddy. I’m gonna need you to calm down.”

Adora stands there in this new primal form panting in ragged breaths. Her instincts are screaming inside her head in full force and she eyes where the door is. _I need to save Catra!_ She starts for the door, but the other woman in the room tries to intercept her.

“I cannot let you go out there like this, Adora.” Scorpia stands face to face with a now much taller version of the young blonde. She’s firm in her stance and goes to grip the younger woman’s much larger arms.

Adora stares into her face, snarling, and goes to move the woman in front of her out of instinct – _I need to leave this room and make my way to the skiffs_ – but Scorpia holds her ground. Adora starts to struggle and grunt in frustration.

Scorpia grips her tighter. She knows the pheromones coming off the alpha in front of her were shockingly strong. She’s never been near an alpha with this much raw energy. The blonde exudes dominance and Scorpia wants to back down, but she knows her friend needs her right now. “Adora, we need to come up with a plan. Catra,” Adora glares into her eyes at the mention of the missing woman’s name. “That’s who you’re worried about, right?” Scorpia nods her head slowly as though she was trying to bring Adora back by coaxing a response. “We’ll find Catra, but you need to calm down. You can’t go out there looking like this, my friend. People are going to _notice,_ and you are going to be at the end of a _ll_ of Hordak’s experiments. You won’t be able to find your friend like that, huh?”

The words, although hushed to keep Adora from full on raging through Scorpia, seemed to be breaking through her enraged state. Adora’s brow softened and she seemed to have been sensing the other woman’s soothing pheromones. She steps back and tries to shake the fog from her brain. She isn’t quite sure what’s going on. The need to find and save Catra is still in the forefront of her mind, but she’s beginning to find herself again. She puts her hand to head.

Scorpia reaches forward to grasp at Adora to make sure she doesn’t fall. “That’s it. Come back to me, buddy.”

Adora’s head starts to clear. She looks at Scorpia and starts to realize that her face is parallel to the other woman’s. She meets her eyes and then immediately looks down to see what obstacle she must be standing on… Her eyes shoot wide and she lunges backwards. “Ahhhh! Wh-what?” She reaches down to her body and grips at her new clothes. She turns her head to the left and makes eye contact with herself in the mirror. “Ahhh!” She screams again and falls backwards. With everything happening she distracts herself so much that her inner alpha retreats. She falls beside the bed returning to her normal size, muscles and clothes.

Adora reaches her hands to her head as she wonders if she hit it at some point. Her voice comes out shrill, “Uh!... They didn’t talk about _that_ in alpha orientation!” She frustratingly looks over to Scorpia expecting her to know what’s going on, but the woman looks on with wide eyes.

“No… no they didn’t.” Scorpia is short on words, probably one of the first times in her life, and huffs out a breath of relief after. Talking down a shapeshifting mega-alpha is stressful stuff.

“Wh-what do I do? Should I tell someone? Lord Hordak? Shadow Weaver? She might know what to do –“

“Are you crazy!? You want to bring this to Hordak? Shadow weaver is beyond scary and would totally pick you apart!”

“No!” Adora exclaims. “You don’t know her like I do. She… she won’t hurt me. But she… she might have some answers or something.”

“I don’t know. I don’t like this idea one bit.” Scorpia shakes her head but knows they can’t keep this a secret forever. Adora is lucky _she_ was the one that saw her and not some conniving little cadet looking to get ahead in life.

Adora’s mind is running 100kph. She has no idea what’s happening to her and her heart aches for Catra. Her eyes drift back and forth at what could happen. “You said Lord Hordak was planning to set up a mission to retrieve them, right? Maybe we could make sure we’re on it so I can rescue Catra.” Her eyes scream desperation and her heart continues to ache with need. She needs to save Catra. Her inner alpha isn’t relenting and she isn’t sure what will happen.

Scorpia looks down after she kneels to Adora’s lowered body. She has to do this carefully. Saying the wrong thing could set her off again and create that overpowered alpha. The, now, larger woman sighs deciding what she has to say. “Look, Adora. The mission is too dangerous, especially if you don’t have,” she’s at a loss for words “ _that,_ under control, then there’s no way we could safely take you.”

Adora’s brow begins to furrow and tears form in her eyes at the helplessness she begins to feel.

“But, listen! Maybe, if you start learning to control your alpha urges more, then I might be able to get you on it.” She looks down to Adora in sympathy, not pity. “We can’t risk you losing control like that again, you understand? It could be really dangerous, for others and for you.”

Adora does her best to keep her control over her emotions, but it soon becomes very difficult. She lets a few tears fall, then she quickly wipes them. She looks back to Scorpia. “Okay then. I’ll do it. How much time do I have?” She maintains the steadiness of her voice as best as she could given everything that’s happened.

Scorpia sighs. “A few days. They need to prepare a specialized team.”

Adora gives her a curt nod and raises herself off the ground. “I’ll do it.” She releases her breath slowly and turns to face Scorpia. “Thank you, Scorpia.”

The other woman lowers her eyes. “Oh, it was nothing. You were pretty intimidating, though.”

“It can be hard to stand up to your friends, and I’m really grateful you did.” She absentmindedly rubs her arm with her opposite hand.

“Hey, don’t mention it.” Her eyes go wide,” but like seriously, don’t mention it. To anybody. If they knew I knew, then we’d _both_ be in big trouble.”

Oh, Adora understood trouble. She’s caused enough of it with Catra to learn that lesson early on. Her heart pangs at the thought.

“Alright,” Scorpia starts, “well hey, if you need anything Adora, please don’t hesitate to come to me.”

Adora looks up to her with a grateful smile. “Thank you… Force Captain.” Her smile widens slightly.

The older woman gives her a big grin and then an even bigger hug. “Of course.” Scorpia leaves the room, which thankfully isn’t too disheveled, then Adora locks the door and just cries until she sleeps.

* * *

She’s always in her dreams and tonight is no different. Although, it is different.

Adora enters a small town that looks familiar, but she can’t place it. She looks around and notices that there were Horde vehicles and tanks strewn throughout the town. There were a few small fires, but ultimately looks like a successful Horde mission. Adora looks around to see if anyone is still in the vicinity.

Her senses are thrown off by all the smog coming off of the vehicles. She continues to look and listen for anyone in the area to see if she should be cautious. After an unfruitful search, she puts her hands together cupped around her mouth and shouts “anybody here?”

It was a mistake. She shouldn’t have said anything, because she’s immediately tackled to the ground from behind. The weight hits the middle of her back and forces Adora’s body to land roughly onto her stomach. Her arms attempt to catch herself and end up underneath her chest. She grunts and does her best to shift her position, but the body on top has her pinned. She struggles enough to get her arms out from under her body and the being on top of her grabs them quickly and digs sharp blades into her wrists. “Aghh!” She turns her head to the left to find the damned hands that sunk into her skin.

“Adora?” After the blonde turned her face, the other person realized who they had tackled.

Adora immediately recognizes the other’s voice. “Catra?” Her voice cracks with the singular word. Tears start to sting her eyes as a flood of emotions hit her hard. She can hardly handle this situation. She leans her forehead back to the ground to hide the storm warring inside.

“Shit, Adora I didn’t know it was you!” Catra notices the pain on the other’s face and leaps off her body, but Adora just caves in on herself. “Hey,” Catra sounds softer than she wanted to, but reaches to touch the blonde. She’s afraid she’s finally done it. She’s made Adora hate her.

Adora can hardly feel the pain in her arms anymore, she can only feel the desperate pang of guilt and sadness for Catra being captured. She inhales through her nose a long and steadying breath, but when she tries to relax all she does is inhale the most incredible scent. She turns to face Catra who’s reaching out to check on her. Adora’s eyes are squinting in the light of the day, but she sees Catra’s outline of her beautifully wild mane.

“Adora, why are you crying? Did I hurt you that badly?” Catra is kneeling, straddling over the blonde still laying on the ground. Catra grabs the girl’s wrists and sees barely noticeable small, red, crescent shapes in her skin and doesn’t understand. She’s hurt Adora w _ay_ worse than this before.

When Catra was examining her arms Adora was able to see her face better. She could see the worry and confusion on it and also how incredibly sexy she is. Adora’s stomach fills with need as the sweet scent fills her nose once again. She knew Catra smelled good, but this is just the beginning of amazing. Adora reclaims her arms back for the moment as she continues staring into Catra’s confused face; which is now aimed directly at her. She shoots her hands back out clasping her arms around Catra’s waist and she pulls the smaller girl on top of her. She falls back to the ground and Catra’s full weight is pressed against her body.

“Adora, wha –“

The blonde grasps at Catra firmly nestling her comfortably so their bodies pressed flush against each other. The sensation brings her a sense of control as Adora runs her left hand up and down the length of Catra’s back while the other presses her lower back and hips down into Adora’s sturdy frame.

Catra is caught off guard from the initial movement, but when she realizes they’re doing _this_ again, she softens herself and languidly molds her body to fit Adora’s. Her thigh slides in between Adora’s legs and she can feel the heat of her core radiating. She clears her throat, “Adora, we gotta stop meeting like this.” Catra relaxes in her arms and begins trialing her fingertips over the other’s muscular arms.

The sarcasm falls on deaf ears when all Adora can do it continually run her hands down the lithe body on top of her. This is a dream, Adora knows, and she wants to make it last, but… another part of her feels badly. She’s groping the body of her best friend, w _ho’s been captured and is in danger, a_ nd all Adora can think about it is ripping her clothes off. She groans at her inability to stop, but the body on top of her is a much-needed reminder that she should. Adora stops her ministrations and opens her eyes. She looks into a concerned mix of blue and yellow.

“Adora, what is it?” Catra’s eyes aren’t as soft anymore. She can feel the hesitation and is worried she’s definitely overstepped somehow.

Adora’s eyes begin to water again and her lower lip begins to tremble.

Catra sits up extending her right arm to the ground by Adora’s head and her left is reared back. She’s so unsure of what to do, but her heart is ripping apart at the sight in front of her. She hates when Adora cries, but is she the reason? She hesitantly extends her left hand to the side of the blonde’s face and feels relief when Adora leans into the touch. “Adora,” she waits until Adora looks into her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Adora presses her own hand to cover over Catra’s and she closes her eyes as she relishes in the sensation. “I…” she starts but can barely get past the knot in her throat. “You were captured.”

Catra’s face contorts and she warily retreats her hand from Adora’s face.

“The Rebellion got you and Force Captain Huntara, and I’m just useless and I can’t even leave to rescue you.” Adora sits up as Catra backs up a fraction of a step. She reaches out and grabs at the other’s wrist to maintain some connection, because the distance, however small, is torturing her.

“How do you – oh yeah, this is a dream.” Catra rolls her eyes. “Yeah, _Huntara,_ more like _traitor_. She handed herself over and let me get roped along with her!” Catra exaggerates her words with her hands and goes to stand up. “Fucking Force Captain my ass.”

Adora knits her brow together in confusion as she leans back on her arms staring up at the other woman. “Scorpia never told me that. She said you both got captured.”

“Okay,” Catra rolls her eyes, she’s surprised they haven’t rolled out of her head by now. “I don’t know who Scorpia is, or whatever, but that’s exactly what happened. Trust me, I was there.” She crosses her arms over her chest.

Adora stands to her feet warily, eyeing the other woman. “Uh, right. You were ‘there’ but this is a dream so you weren’t.”

 _Did Adora seriously just use air quotes?_ “No, you idiot, this is my dream and yes I was there. Y’ano,” she waves her arms airily “like in the real world.”

Adora is beyond confused. “What?” She looks as Catra like she has a second head growing from her shoulder. “This is my dream Catra, and in the real world you both were captured. Lord Hordak is devising a plan to come rescue you.” The confusion, in possibly one of the weirdest dreams ever, is making Adora frustrated. _Ugh, I should’ve just enjoyed the dream the way it was going earlier._

“Wait,” Catra closes her eyes and tries to focus. “So you’re in my dream, but you’re also saying that I’m in your dream?” Her eyes widen at the impossibility of this right now and memories of a larger Adora with a sword floods into her mind. “Are we in the same freaking dream?!” Her face fills with blood as a blush overtakes nearly her entire face as she thinks about what they were doing moments ago.

“What?” Adora looks at her like she’s joking and starts awkwardly laughing. But the prominent blush on Catra’s face and her disbelieving eyes speak otherwise, and her laugh starts to die down. “What?!” Her hands shoot to her face as they grip the sides of her head. “Are you serious? So, you’re asleep right now?! With the Rebellion soldiers who took you?” The last question sparks a revelation in Adora’s mind and anger starts to burn inside her. Her need to protect Catra starts rising in her chest again as her inner alpha senses _my mate is in danger_.

Adora ignores the word mate that her alpha uses to describe Catra and decides after half a second that she’ll have to take care of that one later.

Catra sees the look of fierce determination in Adora’s eye and a wave of arousal hits the pit of her core. _Ugh, focus idiot._ “Yes, I’m with them, but I’m fine. I can take them, but Huntara is helping them keep me tied up. We’re in the whispering woods.”

Adora starts to pant in anger as the new information is divulged to her. “She’s what?!”

Catra shuts her eyes trying not to let the alpha’s scent sway her. “Shit, Adora. Stop… acting like that. I can’t fucking focus.” A blush creeps up onto Catra’s face after that admission, but she really needs her to take a chill pill. Her arms extend out placing her hands on Adora’s chest.

Adora looks down at her hands and takes a calming breath. Her voice is lower “sorry… I’m working on controlling it.” She slides a hand over one of Catra’s own hands and clenches her jaw. “I’m going to find you. I’m going to get a spot on the rescue mission, and I’ll come get you.”

Catra chuckles lightheartedly at Adora’s determination. “Always have to be the hero, don’t you?” There’s some harshness to her words.

“Do not!” Adora’s tone is defensive as she waves her hands animatedly and backs away from Catra’s touch.

Catra moves half a step closer to close the space again – afraid she’ll lose Adora if she moves another inch. The movement was done absentmindedly, and she tucks her chin down to hide her embarrassment. She presses her hands more firmly over Adora’s chest, nowhere near her breasts. Catra couldn’t even imagine going there _now_ knowing this is _actually_ Adora – well sort of.

Her eyes never look up into blue because it would make this moment too much. She furrows her brow in disbelief that any of this even happening. She runs her hands up Adora’s collar and then out to her firm shoulders. She keeps her eyes on her right hand as it trails down over Adora’s biceps.

The blonde bites her lip trying to contain whatever this feeling is inside her. She lifts her hands and rests them on Catra’s waist. “Catra, I –“

“Don’t ruin it.” The shorter woman closes the gap completely and tucks her head onto Adora’s shoulder. The blonde can feel puffs of air hitting her neck as Catra nuzzles closer into her.

* * *

Adora is ripped from her dream as the overhead alarm disturbs her sleep. “Fuck.” Worry instantly hits her because she’s lost connection with Catra too soon. They needed more time to talk. _I need more information,_ she thinks. And she is _not_ going to think about everything else they’ve been doing in their dreams… w _as that the first one we’ve shared?_ Adora’s eyes go wide at _that_ thought. “How is this happening?!” She plants her hands onto her face and slowly drags them down in exasperation. She’s learned a lot in the last 12 hours.


	9. Visions of Golden Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgot to add some possible trigger warnings. There is mention of potential sexual abuse and vivid depiction of violence.

Catra grips her arms tighter around the body that fades away. Her eyes shoot open to find Adora gone. Panic rises in her chest until she remembers that this is a dream. She runs her claws through her hair scraping at her scalp. She does her best to ground herself. “Shit just keeps getting weirder.” She huffs.

* * *

Catra’s eyes crack open at the sudden sound of a twig breaking. She turns her head and looks around at her surroundings. She sees the campfire has died out from burning all night and beyond that she eyes a body shifting. Once her eyes adjust and her night vision becomes focused, she sees Huntara stuffing a bag. She whisper yells in her direction “hey! Pssst.”

The body stops moving momentarily but then finishes stuffing the item into her bag. She pulls the draw strings snuggly and tosses the sac over her shoulder. She moves quietly over to Catra’s still tied up body and kneels, getting awkwardly close to her face. “What do you want kitty-cat?”

“Where are you going? Untie me and take me with you.” Catra starts to rotate her body some so that Huntara has room to cut the ropes in a safe spot. She doesn’t want her to cut off her tail or something. The thought alone sends shivers down her spine.

Huntara chuckles softly. She raises her hand to reach back for her knife, but when Catra looks away and is distracted trying to maneuver herself, Huntara grabs her knife and swings it towards the cat-girl’s head. She uses the blunt end of the knife to hit Catra just behind her right ear. The taller woman hears an audible grunt as she swiftly knocks her unconscious.

She isn’t sure if she’s done the right thing or not, but she knows she has to go off on her own. Having an obnoxious, opinionated, little, angry cat wasn’t going to make things easier for her here on out. It’s time to finally cut all ties and leave the Horde. It’s time to make something better for herself and being captured by princesses isn’t in her game plan.

She grabs a large stick she had started to whittle last night and blows off the dust. The unmistakable replica of the stone from her homeland rests on top. It was a piece of home she’s never been able to forget. She shoves down the dark memories and sets off on her trail. She gives one last glance back at the tied-up girl. _Eh, she’ll be alright. She has enough fire to burn this whole planet down. No way she’s not going down without a fight,_ she thinks. Huntara turns her back and leaves camp

* * *

Catra opens her eyes and reaches for her head. She looks confused as she tries to remember how she got here. She’s finally untied and the woods around her look much more vibrant than before. The air feels more charged with energy and she feels her tail bristle. _Something around this place is creepy_ , she thinks. She tries to focus. She could’ve sworn she remembers hitting her head on something. As she continues to trap herself in thought, a golden light blinds her from somewhere close by. She hisses at the pain it brings her and clamps her eyes shut until it fades. When it does, she attempts to look around to find the source, and about thirty meters away she sees a golden silhouette with flowing hair. The form beckons her to come closer, so she obeys. Something about the being hypnotizes her. She’s within a few feet from it and something about its’ presence makes her shiver. She doesn’t understand how or why, but she knows she can already trust this thing. She feels… peace and her curiosity gets the better of her.

She moves just in front of it, allowing herself room to flee if she needs to, but something tells her she doesn’t. After a moment it reaches its’ hand out and gently caresses the left side of Catra’s face, placing it’s palm over her heated cheek. Catra, still confused, leans into the gentle touch. The connection to the being brings instance comfort. It reminds her a lot of Adora… it clicks then, and Catra opens her eyes. _When did I shut them,_ she thinks, then looks up into the face of the being. The outline is broader, but unmistakably Adora.

The Adora-like-being points her arm downwards towards Catra’s right hip. The cat-girl waits to feel its’ presence, but nothing comes. She looks down and realizes something is in her own hand. She raises it up in confusion from not knowing how it got to be in her possession. She shrieks in a high pitch and jumps away to her left – dropping said item in the process. She looks down at it disdainfully. The blue sword with a gold hilt lays there as the form of a larger Adora continues to point at it. Catra looks back to the golden figure and wants to refuse, but something inside of her is calling out. A part of her can sense what the Adora-being needs and she moves to reach down for the sword. She picks it up, momentarily bearing the weight, until she hands it over to the glowing person.

As soon at she takes hold of it the being raises it above her head. The bright light flashes again and Catra really wishes she could get a warning when weird glowing happens. She hisses as it burns her retina. As it fades, she looks back to see a more familiar figure. It’s… “Adora?”

Adora’s figure looks in her direction and steps closer. She leans her head down so that their foreheads are touching. After sheathing her sword to her back she cups her hands gently around Catra’s neck lightly rubbing her thumb over her jaw.

Catra’s heart starts to thrum in her chest. She closes her eyes and places her own hands around Adora’s.

* * *

Catra jumps from her position on the ground, waking up and realizing she’s still tied up. Her head pounds at the sudden movement and she groans at the pain.

“Oh, look Bow. Sleeping Beauty is awake.” The sound of the girls voice right now is more than just irritating.

“Sleeping Beauty? Oh! You mean her.” He laughs at himself awkwardly and Catra wants to roll her eyes, but the pain is preventing her.

Glimmer huffs, “yes I mean ‘her,’ Bow. You!” She kicked the bottom of Catra’s feet causing her to recoil and grunt. “Where’s the big buff lady? Did she run off to tell the Horde where we’re keeping you? Answer me, Horde scum!”

“Aaaggghhhh! I don’t know! Gah, why do you have the most annoying voice in the world?” She winces at the pain brought on by her yelling, but she gets extreme satisfaction from Glimmers guffaw. “I have no idea.” Anger rises in her throat. “She left without me… this morning.”

“Aww –“

“Bow! Not helping” Glimmer interjected.

“Sorry.” His crestfallen voice matches his face Catra notices as she rolls to her back and stares up at the two. She sighs at the incompetence of these idiots. Her eyes are caught by a gleam from behind the sparkly one’s back. She rotates her head and notices the shining gold from a familiar hilt attached to what looks like a bright blue blade. Her eyes shoot open wide. “Where did you get that?!” She points with her eyes as she shifts from the blade to Glimmer.

Upon realization at what Catra had meant, Glimmer became very protective. “ _None_ of your business, Horde solider. Now, get up. We need to get moving.” She pushes a bit of royal air into her tone that sounds like a snooty-pompous ass.

“ _First,_ tell me where you got that sword.” She glares at Glimmer, revealing what little patience she has on the subject.

“The Whispering Woods, now shut it. Get to your feet. We’re going to Brightmoon.” She turns to face the other guy, “mom is going to be so impressed!”

“Look,” Catra draws their attention back to her. “I don’t care about any of this, -“

“Ugh!” Glimmer groans. “My heat is going to start soon. We don’t have time for this! I’m surprised my mom hasn’t deployed the whole Army yet.” Catra’s eyes widen in concern.

“What army?” Bow says at the worst time possible. It gives Catra a confusing, yet not so surprising revelation.

“Wait!” Catra starts chuckling. “You guys don’t even have an army?” She continues to cackle in her high pitched laughter. “Why have we not attacked the kingdom, yet?” She rolls onto her side in a fit of laughter, completely ignoring the fact that Glimmer mentions her heat.

“ _Bow_! Not in front of the prisoner!” She leans her head back dramatically – Catra is surprised she didn’t just hit her head on the hilt of the large blade – and the guy’s face dissolves into a sheepish grin.

Catra sobers herself after remembering her weird ass vision, or whatever. _Adora had the sword in her hands. She was a giant light person and then became herself again. Hm, seems pretty self-explanatory,_ she muses. _So Adora is a giant golden lady? Now, that doesn’t make sense._ She tries her best to remember everything that’s happened when it comes to the unconscious moments with the magical being. _The sword has to be for Adora._

She’s knocked out of her thoughts when the other two stop their bickering and direct their attention back to her. She gives them a blank stare and responds, “What?”

“You heard us, Horde soldier. Now get on your feet and start walking.” Glimmer does her best intimidating voice, but Catra has heard worse, much worse. She’s been intimidated by a witch of darkness her whole life. _It’d be nice if I could go one day without thinking about the hag._

She rolls over onto her back from being previously seated in the dirt and looks up at the pair. “Oh, I just don’t know if I can go on,” she speaks dramatically and flops onto her side, “whoops guess I can’t walk.”

“Ughhh! You’re insufferable. Bow, grab her please so we can get back.” Glimmer is obviously frustrated, and it brings so much joy to Catra, she’s just not sure why.

Bow dreads his newly appointed job and slowly steps towards the tied-up cat. “Alright, lets take this nice and slow.” He reaches down to her foot to grab at her ankle and she sits up and hisses in his face. He falls backwards onto his butt and Catra laughs loudly. _The fear in his eyes is what makes it worth it,_ she thinks _._

Bow stands and brushes himself off and looks over his shoulder to Glimmer who takes pity on him. “Hey!” She yells it to get Catra’s attention. “Do you want to get hit over the head again?” She glares and continues after receiving the most obnoxious eye roll from the cat-girl. “Ugh! Now, I know what my mother has to deal with. Just tie another rope to her and drag her, Bow.” She turns to grab said rope and he moves to quickly tie her.

Catra may not fear these people, but she could definitely go _without_ a concussion… She huffs and plants all her body weight down making it as difficult as she can for Bow to tie the rope. He finishes and they start dragging her. Her hair ruffles against the ground as she’s pulled, thankfully, the grass is nice and even.

After about five minutes she finds herself contemplating everything that’s happened. She was abandoned by Huntara. _That lousy traitor._ And she’s still captured by these ridiculous people that are taking her to Brightmoon. She can’t exactly escape, although these chumps are pretty much powerless against her. But the sword… _I don’t know why, but Adora needs that sword._ She scrunches her nose. Thinking of the blonde again brings back some interesting things. She remembers her last dream… _their_ last dream. _Oh yeah! I forgot that was a thing._ She huffs and rolls her eyes. _I probably looked like such an idiot. Just throwing myself at her and smothering her with my …_ she groans again. _Stupid feelings, stupid hormones._

Just then, her overly sensitive nose smelled something unfamiliar. It was sweet, but not really Catra’s cup of tea. She looks down towards her feet noticing the pair walking in front and she becomes even more confused. “Hey!” She yells it and the two flinch, but they don’t stop moving. “Which one of you morons smells weird? It’s invading my nose and my personal space.” She shudders and draws out the last part groaning like a child.

They both turn to her, but Glimmer is the one blushing like a madwoman. “Can you like not? For ten minutes, please!”

“Well, since you asked so sweetly.” Catra showed her fangs on that one. She loves seeing the red cross Adora’s cheeks. Making her feel embarrassed at any chance she gets is one of her favorite past times. This isn’t _as_ satisfying, but it is fun, nonetheless.

“Really?” She asks with a bit of hope and a lot of surprised confusion.

Catra cackles immediately. “C’mon Sparkles, that was too easy.” She doesn’t even finish her statement before Glimmer groans up to the heavens. _Adora would’ve so laughed at that one._

“Glimmer, just ignore her,” Bow says. “Look, we’re not getting very far. Maybe, one of us should go ahead to get help from Brightmoon. It’ll give us more time and I’m sure your mom would be happy to know you’re okay.”

Glimmer looks at Catra, and then back to Bow. “You need to hurry, Bow. I might beat her to a pulp before you even make it back.” Her jaw tight with irritation doesn’t go unnoticed by the feline.

He chuckles nervously knowing Glimmer’s temper quite well. “I’ll make it as fast as I can. Promise”

 _Promise,_ the word flickers through Catra’s thoughts raising memories she’d thought were long gone to repetitive trauma and Shadow Weavers dark magic. A bit of sadness bubbles to the surface thinking of Adora. _Ugh, I need to get the sword to Adora, or Adora to the sword. These idiots won’t let it go without a fight, though. That’s for sure._ She looks over at the two hugging before Bow parts ways with them.

“Hm? Everyone keeps leaving.” Catra sounds nonchalant and she can tell that even the sound of her voice is starting to grate on the other woman’s nerves. Glimmer is clearly trying to calm herself before she explodes. “That scent of yours just drives people away, huh?” She normally would’ve looked at her claws to punctuate her lack of empathy for whoever was in the crosshairs of her attitude, but unfortunately, she’s tied up.

What was also unfortunate was her miscalculation at how Glimmer is or is not able to contain her anger. “Aggggh!” The sparkly girl runs over and shoves Catra up against a tree. The scent of her heat is coming off her in waves as well as her clear aggravation. A growl starts from deep in her throat and Catra forces herself not to cower from the overbearing pheromones.

Catra snarls at the other girl and waits for the impending backlash of her big mouth. Instead, she’s dropped onto her butt and her tail pinches between her body and the ground. She hisses in pain. She levels a glaring look over at the other who is curled in on herself.

Glimmer has dropped to her knees and grabs at her stomach. “Ughhhhh… No! This can’t be happening now!”

Catra stares with narrowed eyes completely unaware of what she is witnessing. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Very funny, asshole.” She groans again, “like you don’t know. Just like a Horde soldier to _torment_ people.” Glimmer’s scent is in full force now.

Catra can see beads of sweat form on the other’s brow as she curls in on herself in pain. “Hey! I literally have no idea what’s happening, so keep your virus carrying body over there. Got it?” She turns to sit perpendicular to Glimmer, ignoring her groans. “Probably some magical cancer or something.”

Glimmer deadpans towards Catra. “You mean… you really don’t know? What a heat is?”

Catra glares at her over her shoulder, feeling completely foolish at her outburst. “Right! Well, duh. I knew you were in heat, but you’re seriously sweating everywhere. I was worried you were going to vomit on me.” She rolls her eyes and turns back away from the other.

Glimmer rotates her body facing Catra again but sitting on her backside until the cramps pass. “What are you? A beta, right? Omega’s go through heats. They’re like a period, but 10 damn-times worse.” She swallows thickly.

“I know what a stupid heat is, okay? Maybe you should go sit over there, or something. I don’t – “

Catra’s attention is caught by something else. She catches a hint of something in the air. She’s not sure at first until her ear flicks catching the sound of the small noise.

Glimmer’s brow furrows as she looks at the cat sniffing the air. “Hey, what is – “

“Sshhh. Shut it.” Catra’s harsh in her tone, but she needs silence. She turns towards the approaching breeze. She catches a hint of something, and her eyes blow wide open. “Sparkles.” She says the name with a grave seriousness that throws off the other woman. “Untie me. Right. Now.”

A laugh tumbles from Glimmer’s mouth and she winces in pain that it causes her abdomen. “Why the hell would I do that, Horde scum?”

A few magical animals leap out of one side of the tree line and sprint past them. Both women furrow their brows in confusion and look towards the direction they came.

Catra whips her head back around to glare at Glimmer. She moves so fast she nearly falls over. “Untie me right now, you idiot! Before they get here! Now, move dammit!”

“Who?” Glimmer asks with confusion, incredulity, and anger.

The pair hear a deep laugh come from the direction the animals had fled from.

“Smell the air you dumbass! It’s a pack of alphas. Now fucking _untie me_!” Catra’s glare is furious and grave. Glimmer understands the potential dangers her statement would bring upon them, if she were correct.

And by the scent wafting into her nose, Glimmer’s eyes widen in terror. She can’t move. She can hardly breath, until Catra’s name-calling and fidgeting brings her back to reality. Glimmer scrambles over to the other woman and starts working on freeing Catra. Their best bet is to work as a team. “Shit!” Glimmer starts to lose her composure as her fear addled brain fumbles with the knots.

“Use the sword, dumbass!”

Glimmer reaches behind herself at the utter brilliance of that idea and uses it to slice away the rope. But it’s in vein. They rise to run off in the opposite direction.

The scent of the alphas is now pungent as the pack makes their way through the trees, inching closer to the pair.

The two hadn’t gotten far before Catra senses they’re coming from all around them. More are approaching from the directions their running in. _It’s a fucking trap!_ Her hand extends out crossing over Glimmer’s chest and she halts Glimmer in her path. Catra looks left, then right and ultimately decides to leap upwards. She extends her claws and traverses up the tree.

Glimmer’s eyes widen in horror realizing now more than ever that you _can’t_ trust a Horde soldier to save your damn life. The gut-wrenching betrayal she feels, after having released the cat who left her, rips through her core and the anger just bubbles. Sharp hot tears reach the edges of her eyes as she clenches her jaw tightly.

“Well, well, well what do we have here?” The deep voice that sounds like gravel startles Glimmer and her legs tremble. Fear, that’s what she feels, nothing else. She turns and looks around the immediate area to realize there’s roughly 8 alphas in this group. She trembles as she breathes heavily. She could run, but they would chase her, and catch her easily. It would take too much of her stamina that she’s already lacking from not being fully charged with magic. So she freezes in place, trying to determine an open opportunity to either strike or flee.

The group crowds around her and they inch closer releasing grunts and haughty laughs. The top alpha of the group speaks. Glimmer can tell he’s this groups primary alpha with how cocky and arrogant he is. He takes a deep inhale through his nose. “Hmmm, something smells good.” He disgustingly licks his lips like it’s his given right to take what isn’t his. “The name’s Tongue-Lashor. You can probably guess what for, but in case it isn’t clear...” He slithers his disgusting tongue out quickly flicking it rapidly, like there’s something respectable about harassing someone. He moves closer to her, tauntingly slow as he tries to make this agonizingly slow – this show of dominance. This disgusting power trip that he so clearly is getting off on. He approaches Glimmer and inhales again. He reaches out his hand to cup the woman’s face.

“Yano, boys. I’m glad we made that move from the Waste. Wouldn’t have come across such a prize.” He lowers his voice as he directs his words to Glimmer. “Now, are you gonna make this easy, or –“

From out of nowhere Catra leaps from the treetops slashing her claws through the flesh of the alpha’s face and throat. An ugly gurgling scream comes from his lips as she slices through the flesh of his arteries. The blood fills his airway and she watches, only for a moment, as he drowns in his own fluids.

“Who the fuck wants to fight me next?” She lifts her eyes to the group after just having taken out their supposedly strong leader in as little as a whip of his stupid tongue. She flares as much intimidation as she can through her blazing eyes.

Don’t get her wrong. Catra isn’t interested in the sparkly princess in the least, as far as her heat goes, but no one that disgustingly arrogant and abusive with their alpha status deserves to live.

A flash of Adora crosses her mind just briefly – curious about what kind of alpha she’s growing into. And then, another flash of a large glowing Adora appears in her mind as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was just dreadful. I could not finish it for some reason, thus the extended break. I still hope you enjoyed nonetheless.


	10. Catra's conflict

Catra glances over and catches sight of the wide but firm eyes of the princess. She can see the obvious horror. _Could’ve been worse, Sparkles._

Her fingers are spread apart ready to tear through something, or someone else. Her position screams she’s ready for retaliation and she scans her eyes over the appalled group members. The only noises in the last few moments have stopped, but the smell of iron fills the air as the blood continues to flow out onto the ground – drops still falling from her claws.

Her adrenaline is still pumping. She’s needs to do something quick before the shock fades from the other alphas. She had the element of surprise on her side for this kill, but she doubts with Glimmer as a distraction and a liability that she could take on the rest of the pack.

“I was about to capture my prize before your blockhead alphas interfered.” Catra reaches down and takes Tongue Lashor’s whip from his side. _Cool,_ she thinks.

Glimmer’s eyes go wide and a brow dips in confusion at the direction Catra decides to take. She looks around and tries to see how it landed on the group.

One alpha up on a nearby branch growls, “your prize my ass! You’re not even –“

Catra flings the end of the whip at the vulnerable idiot in a tree and yanks them off. She hears the wail before the crunched bush beneath them.

“Anyone else care to object?” She puts as much of her built up anger from the day into her voice and her lip begins to curl into a snarl. She knows deep down that she’s outnumbered, but 2 of 8 down has made her odds a little better. Plus, she can tell these idiots have no sense. They probably won’t even attack all at once and just try to show dominance one by one. Losing their top alpha breaks the hierarchy and they’ll have to fix it. She can see the conflict in their stupid faces. _Are we really gonna let a beta take our omega_ , her inner voice makes them sound petulant as she mocks them.

A tall female with horns on her head runs at Catra screaming out some kind of battle cry. The alpha inches closer and Catra turns and flings her whip at her. She tangles the alpha up and throws them onto the ground. She reaches her hand down and around the alpha’s throat and looks to the others.

“Okay, this is how it’s going to work.” They snarl, but nobody moves. “I’m going to spare the rest of you and your friend,” she looks down at the one in her grasp. “And you’re going to let us go. Find yourselves another tasty morsel and leave us alone.” She bares her teeth on her final words and clamps her fingers tighter on the female’s neck to show the severity of her threat.

Another one pipes up after a firm grunt. “Alright, enough.” The amphibian creature reaches out a hand as if to physically stop Catra, but doesn’t move any closer.

Catra drops the alpha from her grasp and as she rises she shakes the whip off of her body. Catra backs up towards Glimmer and keeps her eye on every single one there. She roughly grabs Glimmer’s arm, enough to hear a hiss, and starts walking in the opposite direction. _C’mon Sparkles, play it up a bit._ She looks over to the other girl who seems to get the hint.

Glimmer tries to pull away her arm – grunting as she does so. “Let go of me!”

Catra shoves the female in their new direction of travel and finally turns her back to the pack of alphas. When she feels as though they’re far enough she leans into Glimmmer’s ear. “I don’t suppose you even have a lick of magic left, huh?”

Glimmer shakes her head grimly.

“We need to move,” Catra says. “It’s only a matter of time, before they finally figure something out and come after us. How far is Brightmoon? Do we have time to make it there?” Catra’s gaze is intense and fiery. She doesn’t want to die today to protect some dumb princess.

“It’s just a bit shorter than a day’s travel without my magic.” Glimmer looks down at her feet as they continue walking. Catra can sense a bit of apprehension coming off her.

“Hey, look,” Catra starts. Glimmer turns her eyes towards her in surprise at the change in tone. “I’m not actually going to like mate with you, or whatever. I only said that to get them to back off.” Glimmer gives her a soft smile which makes Catra extremely uncomfortable. “That would be like so gross. Let’s just get moving.”

Glimmer sighs and rolls her eyes. She’s not surprised the snarky ass would return to no avail.

They start to pick up the pace and Catra does her best to cover their tracks as they come to a river. It’s roughly 20 meters wide. She fights her instincts tooth and nail but realizes that this option is their best bet to get some space from the alphas. She grits her teeth. “C’mon, let’s go this way. We need to mask your scent somehow.”

They start crossing the river with Glimmer going first and Catra following. There’s no way in hell Catra was going to go first and realize there’s some deep pit in the middle of the river that swallows her whole. She’d rather send in the idiot first to do it for her. The water isn’t too high to be overwhelming, but it is unfathomably uncomfortable. Catra winces as she takes each step. The main reason she makes Glimmer go first is so that she can’t see the pained looks Catra is clearly sporting right now as she treks across her nemesis.

They’re about halfway across the river when Catra inches closer to the other woman. Glimmer is still carrying the sword on her back and she’s clearly distracted – she hadn’t said a word really since they got away. Catra reaches for her whip and grasps it firmly as an idea comes to her head. She releases the end of it towards Glimmer’s ankle. What follows happens all so quickly in succession in the matter of a few moments.

Glimmer screams at the attack and lunges forward as she trips. She falls into the water and she reaches out her hands to catch herself. She rotates and falls to her back trying to turn and grab the sword to protect herself.

But Catra lunges over top of her body and she reaches for her wrists. They struggle as Glimmer tries her best to keep her head above the water.

“Argh! What... are… you doing?” The water splashes and spills over her face. She sees the ferocity in Catra’s eyes. She can hear the metal of the blade scraping the floor of the river beneath her and her fear starts to amplify with the water washing over her face.

Suddenly, the world turns pink and sparkly as the two are ‘poofed’ and reappear on the opposite side of the river. Catra looks around confused and nauseous after what had just happened. “What the f –“

Glimmer shoves a knee into Catra’s stomach, and the other female falls to the side from the hit. She gasps for air as Glimmer recovers from whatever in the hell just happened. She gets to her feet quickly to prepare for another attack.

Catra lifts a hand as she continues to cough the air back into her diaphragm. “Chill out!” She says in between coughs. “I thought you said you had no magic left.” Her voice is colored in confusion and pain.

“Why would I tell you anything honest? I knew I couldn’t trust you, Horde scum!” Glimmer’s breathless as she recovers as well from her own recuperation with oxygen.

The brunette grunts in frustration before she moves to stand. As she gets to her feet she yells at the other, “we need you to not smell of sex all the way to Brightmoon. What’d you expect? I had to wash the stench off of you somehow.” She’s panting with frustration as she stares at the drenched woman across from her. Glimmer’s hair is sticking to her face and she has her arms out to the side as to avoid the cold touch of her wet clothes.

“You, what!?” Glimmer’s voice gets shrill with her outburst. “You though tripping me and attempting to drown me in water was the best way to relay your idea? You didn’t think for a damn second that I’d probably agree and get in the water willingly?”

A realization clearly dawns on Catra’s face. “You would’ve? Hm, I’ll keep that in mind next time.” She crosses her arms indignantly.

“Ugh!” Glimmer yells. _How has nobody killed this woman before now,_ Glimmer wonders. “You’re insufferable, you know that?” She gestures wildly with her hands and splashes water on the other woman from how wet her clothes are.

Catra flinches from the water, snarling with disgust from it. She looks at Glimmer heaving with anger. Then, a smirk comes to the brunette’s lips. She loves getting a rise out of this princess. There’s just something about the thrill of it. She wants to antagonize it and feed these flames. She shakes her head and realizes what she was considering.

Before she has time to recover from her maddening brain Glimmer shakes off more water. Her scent is still strong and filling Catra’s sinuses. She snarls, “let’s just get moving. We need to make it to Brightmoon. Hopefully, Arrow boy made it by now.” She walks towards Glimmer and clips her shoulder as she walks by her. It causes a growl to be released from the other female and a smirk falls back onto Catra’s face.

As they walk in relative silence the brunette can feel a pair of eyes on her. She turns her head an looks back at Glimmer, who immediately looks down at her feet. They continue walking when Catra feels it again. “Got something on your mind, Sparkles?”

The other woman stays silent as though she’s combing through her thoughts carefully. “Why did you do that?”

Catra turns back to look at her in confusion, “I told you –“

“Not that…” she wrings her hands over her clothes to relieve them of some dampness. “You came back. Why?” Glimmer’s tone is soft and contemplative.

Catra continues drudging forward through the thicker part of the woods they’ve come across yet. She slashes her claws through particularly rough spots clearing a path. “You really think I’d just let those pieces of garbage do that to you?” She looks back questioningly and Glimmer shrugs. Catra turns forward again to continue moving. “Yeah, I wouldn’t have much faith in me either” she says.

They continue forward in relative silence when they make it to a clearing in the woods. Catra shoves out her arm stopping Glimmer’s movement. She looks left and right. “What, are you trying to get captured?”

They look around and see in the distance a little home tucked in a cove of a tree root. They both look at each other and then back at the home. Glimmer shrugs her shoulders and walks in the direction of the house. Catra rolls her eyes at the stupidity of the other woman just barreling through the clearing like they aren’t trying to hide from anyone.

“Maybe there’s food.” Glimmer yells over her shoulder and Catra hears her stomach grumble. She growls at her body’s betrayal.

The brunette jumps out from the brush and stalks towards the house in a very defensive manner. She keeps her eyes scanning on all sides of the clearing. _I hate this stupid magic forest…_ She makes it to the house and stands just behind Glimmer’s shoulder.

Glimmer reaches for the doorknob and winces in pain. When she does, it makes Catra jump like a frightened cat. “What is it!?” Catra screams from the startling gesture.

Glimmer flinches at the volume of her voice and continues to hold herself. “Ugh,” Glimmer says. “It’s nothing. It’s just my heat. I’m cramping really badly. Being dehydrated doesn’t help, either. Let’s just get inside. It doesn’t seem like anyone’s home and I haven’t heard any noises.”

Catra simmers down and smooths out the fur along her tail – a habit she’s being doing since she was little. Her ears are pinned back to her head as they enter the home. She hears a noise from upstairs and her ears perk straight up. “I don’t think this is a good idea. What if some crazy woods people are in here or something?” She looks around in different directions.

Glimmer moves across the room and doesn’t notice a set of stairs leading to the upstairs. “There’s no way up there. It must be an animal or something.” She hisses in pain again and a low groan comes from her throat. “Let’s just eat something quick and decide on what to do.”

Catra nods reluctantly and looks around the cottage for any signs of food. There’s a wooden cabinet standing off to the side of the room. It’s surrounded by knick-knacks and random trinkets. There are hats hanging on hooks accompanied by a few pans. She reaches for the doors and opens them both simultaneously and dust puffs out from the sudden movement. She shakes her head free from the floating particles and lets out a sneeze, then another. She hears a snort come from the other side of the room. “What the hell are you laughing about?” She says through gritted teeth.

“That’s your sneeze?” She says it trying to contain her laughter. “It’s like the tiniest squeaky sneeze I’ve ever heard.”

She growls and hunches her shoulders upwards in defense. “Shut the hell up, Sparkles.” She looks through the damn cabinet for something edible. She finds some morsels of cookies and pastries. _Thankfully, they’ve been covered from all this damn dust,_ she thinks _._ The delicious looking pastries sit on a white decorative stand that are encased with a glass dome. She debates on eating all of it for herself after the teasing she just endured but thinks otherwise as she hears another groan coming from the other woman. She sighs, “hey, I found something.” She hears shuffling approach her and she moves out of the way.

Glimmer gasps at the sight and she reaches quickly for the food. She shoves one fully into her mouth and keeps her eyes closed as she savors the flavor. She doesn’t dare open them to see the smug, judgmental look on the other’s face. She eats two and suddenly her stomach pain starts to wane away. “Oh, thank goodness. I was almost literally dying of hunger.”

The sun starts to set in the distance as Catra glances out the window. She fights the idea of staying in for the night for safety or venturing out to get to Brightmoon faster. _Then again, I could swipe the sword and run back to get it to Adora._ The mention of Adora’s name makes her heart sink. She thought of Adora still out there in the Fright Zone trying to come up with some asinine plan to rescue her. That _Hordak_ of all people was trying to come up with some team. _There’s no way. Why would they give a shit about me? –_

“Watcha thinkin’ about?” Glimmer’s soft voice invades her mind. Catra turns and glares at the other woman who flinches and responds with her own angry look. “Geeze, I was just asking…”

Catra sighs and looks back out the window. “Maybe we should stay for the night.” She turns back to Glimmer. “But not for long. We have to keep up the lead we have on those alphas and make sure they aren’t still following us. What with you and your sex beacon still going off.” She raises her hand gesturing to Glimmer’s entire being.

“It’s called a heat, ya jerk. Not that you know anything about that.” She grumbles the last part to herself, but with Catra’s sensitive hearing of course she picked it up.

“You’re right. I don’t. Good for you.” She turns her head back towards the window.

Glimmer’s ebbing anger and desire bubbling towards the surface is making her edge towards the confrontation on the topic. She wants to poke at Catra. She wants this tension to stop. She wants it to peak and release! “What are you anyways? You say you’re a beta, but that hunter lady said you’re like an omega.”

Catra growls. She hates how needlessly intrusive the other woman is being. “It’s none of your damn business.”

“Yeah, well you’re the one out here giving me a hard time for something I can’t control. How can you speak on anything that you don’t understand?” Her temper is beginning to flare as the heat inside her grows. She doesn’t find her enticing sexually, but Catra’s stubborn, angry self just stirs something in Gimmer that she can’t explain.

Catra thrusts her body around nearly throwing herself upright towards Glimmer. “I don’t know! You happy? I don’t what the fuck I am. I don’t know why it’s so fucking confusing, why no one can tell what I am, not even myself!” Her chest is heaving from the anger bubbling up and out. She grits the rest out through her teeth. “What’s it to you anyways?”

“Ugh! You’re so infuriating. You pretend to be so pretentious like you know everything, but you don’t even know yourself? You can’t talk about any of this, because you have no experience. So just back off with your backhanded remarks.”

“I have experience! I know what it’s like to not be in control of your own body! Especially because of magic and that disgusting shit is like,” she gestures wildly with her hands, “thick suffocating bullshit! You don’t know what it’s like to be controlled with it, or abused with it, or threatened with it! You’re a prissy princess who gets whatever she wants and uses her magic to hurt other people!”

The two women are facing each other. The anger coming out in waves from both of their bodies.

“How can you say that!? You don’t know anything about me! I don’t use my magic to control or hurt anyone! I only use it to protect myself and the ones I love from _you!_ Horde soldiers like _you._ You pillage and you destroy, and you hurt others without a care. I don’t know who hurt you to make you think that those things are true, but they’re wrong! The Horde causes pain, not my magic.”

“Ugh! What do you know!?” Catra’s had enough. Her emotions are overflowing with rage, pain and loss. She sees a flash of Shadow Weaver halting her movements with magic as she takes Adora away from her. She lunges at the princess and converts their verbal conflict into a physical one. She unsheathes her claws to tear apart the magical torment in front of her.

Glimmer expects her move and reaches out to grab at Catra’s wrists. They hold positions like their sheer will, will subdue their opponent. Then Glimmer pushes her weight over onto Catra. She pushes her back up against the table she was just perched on a moment ago. Their bodies are close and pressing against each other as the anger and frustration pours out of them. Catra, feeling extremely uncomfortable, flips their positions as she leans to the side, then she pulls Glimmer to the ground and collapse on top of her, straddling her waist. They continue fighting for dominance. When Catra gets a hand free, she reaches to claw at Glimmer’s face, but she rolls her head away to the left to dodge it.

While Catra is momentarily off balance, Glimmer juts her hips forward and tosses the brunette over her shoulder. Glimmer flips over and sees that Catra caught herself on her hands and knees. She reaches for her right leg trying to pull the brunette backwards to punch her, but Catra quickly rolls onto her back and kicks out her left leg. It makes direct contact with Glimmer’s shoulder and she winces in pain.

The two are scrambling to dominate the other to show who is right. They need to prove to the other who is better – which side is better. After a few moments of pulling hair and scratching skin they’re breathing heavily. Glimmer has Catra’s arm twisted in a weird angle and Catra is digging her claws into Glimmer’s calf muscle. The two refuse to relent until they hear a loud grumbling sound. They stop moving their bodies and the only sounds they can hear are their own heavy breaths.

They both turn their heads towards the front window. The sound came from outside.

Catra shoves Glimmer and attempts to rotate her body from underneath her to get up, but Glimmer just sits atop her, frozen.

“You heard that right?” Glimmer seems to be more than startled by the noise, but Catra just huffs and gives her a hard push to get up.

“It’s probably nothing,” she says as her heart races in her chest. _I hate magic, why is everything in this forest so creepy?_ She crouches lower as she moves to the window, so that she won’t be spotted easily. She looks out to her right then her left, but nothing is amiss. Her eyes squint as she tries her best to look past the glaring sun setting just beyond the treetops and she sees something move. Her eyes widen and she puts her hand to her brow to block some of the light.

“What is it?” Glimmer whisper yells across the room to Catra who nearly jumps out of her skin from the disruption.

Catra glares back at her and through gritted teeth says, “I don’t know. Do you mind? A little busy here.” She turns back to see a large creature coming their way. Her eyes shoot open and she tracks it’s body with her eyes. She opens her mouth to say something, but at first she can’t get anything out. _What the fuck is – “_ Shit!” She leaps away from the window and a huge body bulldozes into the wall.

“AAaaaAAHhhHh!” Glimmer’s scream is alarmingly and annoyingly loud as they both dive out of the way. “What the heck _is that thing_!?” Her eyes are blown comically wide in horror.

“I don’t fucking know, now move!” Catra shoves Glimmer’s shoulder awfully hard with both her hands. The jolt causes her to come back to Etheria.

They start making their way to a side window that was taking advantage of a separation in the root structure of the tree. Catra flings it open and as they climb out the big bug thing keeps smashing into the poor little house.

They make it outside and the monstrosity realizes they’ve left and redirects it’s trajectory. It rolls backwards as it’s whole body encases itself into a ball.

The young women take off on a sprint to avoid it, but there’s no escaping it. Catra decides there’s no outrunning this thing and turns to face it. She stands there bracing her body with her arms out, claws extended, and her breathing heavy.

As it comes closer, she leaps to the side and dodges out of the way as it rams straight into another tree. She takes the opportunity to launch herself onto it and starts clawing its’ metal exterior. She slices her way through, but nothing is enough to be fatal. She grabs ahold of the surface as she leaps down the side of it – dragging her claws through the metal creating a loud shrieking noise. The giant bug is hardly affected as Catra makes it back over to Glimmer.

“What do we do!?” Glimmer looks at the bug recover and move away from the tree. It begins to barrel it’s way towards the pair. As Glimmer looks on with horrified eyes, Catra shoves the woman out of the way of it’s huge body. “Oof.” The sword dislodges from its place on Glimmer’s back and slides about 3 meters away. She looks up and reaches for it, but Catra tumbles in front of her grabbing the sword simultaneously as the bug inches closer. She raises it and the creature pauses. Catra’s eyes are shut, since she’s assuming she would be squished.

Instead, a bright flashing light appears in front of Catra and she falls to the ground. She looks up between her fingers at the blinding light. The golden form of Adora stands in front of her holding the sword aloft to the bug. The cape and the hair is much different than her usual form. The brunette inhales sharply at the surprising form and watches her as the form of the woman turns her head back to Catra. It was like she could _feel_ her concern and _feel_ the warmth radiating off her – all for Catra.

The bug shuts down and plops its body to the ground. The light disappears and the sword clatters when it hits the ground.

Catra sits there looking at the sword and feeling like a piece of her was ripped from her chest. The loss of the presence puts Catra at a loss for words.

“What. The. Ever-loving-shit was that!?” Glimmer’s eyes are trained on the sword as well, her mouth slack as she gapes at it.

Catra looks over realizing that the other woman is there. She feels as though her emotions are written all over her face and spewed out in the open for Glimmer and everyone to see. Disgusted with herself, she clenches her jaw and composes her grief. Her eyes turn back towards the sword.

She had thought for a moment the beast had plowed into her causing another vision to occur, but this is all happening in real life. Glimmer’s presence is a testament to that. She gets up and moves to grab the sword again. “I don’t know… but this is why I’m still here.” In an attempt to change the subject she says, “I’ve never seen anything like that in the Fright Zone. Don’t you like know everything that lives in this forest?”

“What!? Why the hell would I? Who was that golden woman!?” Her impatience and concern is loud and _disconcerting_ as Catra worries it might draw unwanted attention.

Catra drops the sword and moves forward to throw her hands in the other’s face. “Will you keep it down a little? Damn.” Glimmer shakes her head and leans backwards to avoid Catra’s unwarranted touches.

“Ugh! Will you stop trying to control me? You are _my_ prisoner here and if you –“

“Your prisoner?” Catra’s brow furrows in annoyance. “I’m pretty sure that’s _twice_ that I’ve saved your life. So, you should show a little more respect.” She folds her arms over her chest indignantly.

“Ugh!” Glimmer clenches her teeth and her fists as her hormones begin to rage inside of her. She shakes her head and breathes her frustration out with a groan. “Yano what? You’re right.”

“Damn right I – what?” Catra looks like she’s being pranked – eyeing Glimmer with suspicion.

“You’re right, you have saved me.” She opens her eyes after having calmed down. “Twice actually, and as hard as it is to say… Thank you, Horde sc… I mean – what is your name anyways?”

Catra eyes her with reservation. With one brow raised she shifts her weight onto her other leg as the silence between them drags on. “Oh, _now_ you care?”

Glimmer throws her hands up in exasperation. “ _Why_ do I even try?” She turns around and starts to walk away.

The brunette can hardly understand why Glimmer lost all her frustration in just a matter of moments. She’s never met anyone that’s ever been able to own up to their own shit before – besides Adora.

“Catra,” she says as she looks at the ground in front of her. “It’s Catra.”

Glimmer pauses in her movements and turns her head as if to direct her words towards the other person. Her voice is lower, “thank you, Catra.” She continues walking further into the woods deciding not to snicker at the woman’s punny name.

The brunette picks up the sword and debates with herself on what she should do now. She has the sword and Glimmer isn’t much of a crack security officer. She can escape if she wants to. She looks into the blade hoping to see a sliver of Adora, but she only sees herself looking back.

She hears something shuffling in the brush nearby and lurches forward to grab Glimmer's arm. "What is that?" Glimmer asks in a hushed tone.

Abruptly, Catra hears a whirring sound before she’s encased in a net. She falls to the ground writhing in her new, yet familiar, prison. She writhes and struggles against the constraints. Catra opens her eyes to see Glimmer looking down at her with wide eyes and Arrow boy falls from a branch to her side. She turns to him. “Bow! How did you –“

“Glimmer, thank goodness your safe!” Bow grips her shoulders and pulls her into a tight embrace. He pulls back to talk, but still maintains his grasp on her arms. “We tried to find you where I left you guys from before, but I couldn’t locate you, even with my tracker pad. Then, I smelled some alphas scents lingering and I really started to worry.” As Bow begins to ramble his escapades to her she looks around and sees droves of the Brightmoon guard filtering in around her. A few had reached down to pick up Catra off the ground. “Glim, you started your heat.” That regains her attention. “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. Are you okay?” He sniffs the air absentmindedly and Glimmer can feel the security of Bow’s presence. She knows he would protect her if she ever needed it.

Catra begins writhing in her trap. “Arrghh! Let me out of here!”

The brunette’s voice carries and Glimmer turns to pay her attention. “No wait –“

“Princess, this Horde soldier is a prisoner of Brightmoon. We’ll be taking her to the palace with us and we’ll be escorting you home.”

Before she could hear Glimmer’s further protests Catra loses consciousness as another –familiar even – sensation overtakes her body… _Fucking magic,_ is her last thought before going unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am alive and there will be more. Stay safe out there!

**Author's Note:**

> I was tinkering with this idea. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go past the light fluffy nature of the show. Sometimes I read sex scenes from other fics and have a hard time imagining it, because the show exudes a lot more about love in a sweet emotional way, rather than a physical way. I mean they kiss yeah :D But the blushing stems from poking fun at each other in awkward and sweet ways. Idk. Maybe it's just me. I think I'll continue this. I really suck at updating and this virus has taken it's tole, but stay with me!


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